Dance of the Demons
by wakingmeupishard
Summary: In the world he lived in, he was perfect. If only Muzan knew how fragile that world was. Also known as the AU that no one asked for where Muzan and his daughter get role-swapped with Tanjiro and Nezuko. (I have no idea where this will go so we're on a wild ride y'all–)
1. Chapter 1: Imperfection

**Notes: **Whoops, it's me after nearly half a year later. I haven't written a story in forever, my brain is still active and wants to write more. help me.

anyways, please enjoy the story!

—|[0o0]|—

Muzan Kibutsuji was an abandoned orphan, left on the side of the road to starve to death when he was taken in by a reluctant family. He was a sickly boy ever since he was young, the illness was unknown to doctors as they couldn't help him whatsoever. The illness rarely bothered him, it only ever gave him a slight cough from time to time.

He had a peculiar gift that made him different from the others, the gift of enhanced sight. He was able to see things that no one else could. For example, he can see even the smallest muscles move. He knows whenever someone makes a mistake, what emotion someone is going to make and when someone is going to move. He can also see the aura of living beings, whether or not they are present and for him, each aura is unique, although he himself doesn't know-how.

However, Muzan wasn't going to let this ability of his bring him down. He had a life full of opportunities in front of him, and he wasn't going to ignore it.

He decided to work alongside his "father" and farm.

He worked with ease in the fields, his "family" helped him gather enough funds to buy his own house near the mountains which helped him continue farming. He invited his "family" to live together. Through his job, he managed to meet the woman he would later marry and cherish for nearly a decade.

His wife was a headstrong person, her strength came through her words as she had even tamed a person as perfect as him. The two helped move in his wife's parents, his mother, and father-in-law who were ecstatic to see their daughter get married to someone like him. The small act of kindness went a long way as Muzan managed to open his heart a little and respected them as much as he could. Even if he were impeccable, he had to admit that even his elders were slightly better than him.

After nearly a year after the couple had married, they were blessed with two children. One was a daughter while the other was a son. The parents decided to name them Yuki and Ryouichi respectively.

The two children grew up over the years, as their age grew, their personalities developed. They were both currently twelve.

Yuki was a kind-hearted individual who helped her mother out whenever she needed it. She helped prepare meals, clean laundry and most importantly, support her family. She helps to comfort her brother when he comes back from long journeys to the market alongside their father.

Ryouichi had a heart of gold as he would help others whenever they looked or felt down. He would typically help his father with selling their plentiful crops to the nearest town, walking for a day or two to their destination and back. He's quite spoiled by his sister, always being given the most attention whenever he announces he's arrived back home.

Muzan was quite happy that throughout his thirty-two years, no such thing had decided to ruin his perfect life. There was no such thing as a burglar, famine, illness or blemish that had existed in his world. His world was ideal.

He had his house, he had his family and he had his whole life planned out all in front of him. No one could possibly take this away from him.

As long as the heart inside him continues to beat, he will continue to strive for his world. That's what he had said before, now and after.

Therefore, he knew that somehow he was prepared for anything. He knew that going alone to sell his crops was a good idea.

Ryouichi was looking at him fondly with a sad look in his eyes. The boy's hands were curled into a weak fist, he was protesting what his father was doing.

"Father. Why aren't you letting me come with you?" He asked as Yuki was peering over her brother's shoulder, noticing his lingering sadness.

Muzan looked over his shoulder, his comforting stare making his son feel his sorrow being lifted from his shoulders.

Muzan was never wrong. He knew that he didn't need Ryouichi to help him sell this week due to the amount of money they already had. Plus, it was snowing quite heavily during this time of the year. After all, it was New Year's Feast in just a few days. He couldn't take his son with him.

"You have to get ready for the feast. I won't let you skip out on something as important as this," Muzan answered as his son seemed content with his reply.

It was just for two days. They'll survive and he'd be back right on the holiday.

There's nothing wrong.

Ryouichi smiles brightly as Yuki waved.

"See you dad!"

"Goodbye, father!"

Muzan gave the two a nod and started his trek towards the nearest village.

He wondered if his wife were able to make some of her kuromame* for the feast.

—|[0o0]|—

The smell was putrid.

Muzan wasn't sure what the smell was exactly but it was horrid. It was as if he were in a butchery mixed in with rusted iron shavings. He'll be damned if he were able to hold in his disgust.

He looked around, when he was walking back to his house, he had encountered a peculiar old man whom he was familiar with. He had frequently helped to repair any of his tools to farm.

The man had told him to hurry back home as he had told him there were blood-thirsty demons roaming around the night.

Just the idea of demons made Muzan snort. There was no such thing as a demon. Demons were nothing but some figment of some brain-dead idiot's dream.

But maybe he wasn't wrong. That's what he thought as he stopped suddenly when looking at his house entrance.

He saw someone lying on the ground, near the altar where they all had prayed at. It was his mother-in-law. Her face was on the floor, he couldn't see her breathing. There was some type of liquid that she was surrounded by.

Muzan quickly went over to her side but slipped and fell on the mysterious liquid. He tried to growl but it remained in his throat. He just realized what he had slipped in.

This smell was what he noticed when approaching his house.

It was the smell of blood.

He wanted to desperately vomit.

Muzan frantically wiped the blood off his face and hands, helping his mother-in-law sit up. Her throat had been slit, her eyes rolled up to her skull and her mouth wide open as if she were going to scream in fear. Her skin was ice-cold.

She was dead.

Muzan closed her eyes, not willing to see the terror. Suddenly the thought of everyone else flashed through his mind. He had to make sure everyone else was safe.

He left the body behind, going through the different rooms in the household. He screamed his wife's name in fear, she couldn't die. She had to be alive. She had to.

There was blood splattered everywhere he went. It scared him. It threatened his world.

As he ran around, he found the corpse of his parents in Yuki and Ryouichi's bedroom. They laid on the floor, his father with a hole in his chest as his mother had her face torn to shreds. And just outside the room was his father-in-law who had met the same fate as his mother-in-law.

They were all cold.

_Were they protecting the children?_

Muzan quickly went through the closet or any other hiding spot he could possibly find. They weren't anywhere in the room.

Muzan could see something from the corner of his eyes, the faint lingering aura that not only shocked him but also filled him with guilt.

It wasn't the attack of some wild animals after all. It had the shape of a child, they were short and had the visage of something horrid. It stood near his mother, with their hand on the wall.

How could his family die to a mere child? Were they a demon? Was the old man right?

_Demons usually hunt for humans while in the night. You'd best be back to your home as soon as possible._

He didn't want to double-check as he left the room, murmuring the last good-bye to his elders.

He then made his way to the kitchen. It was a mess. It was just as much of a mess as the house. There was food that was still being cooked in the pan on the cold stove, a knife stuck in a ball of cabbage, thinly sliced meat and festive decorations on the walls that hangs by a thread. But nothing could distract him from the fact that the corpses of Ryouichi, Yuki and his wife lay right in front of him.

He saw the aura again in the kitchen, this time it seemed to be choking someone, a single hand lifting someone up. He could only assume it was one of the kids.

Ryouichi was slumped over as his wife and Yuki were lying on the floor like everyone else he had met so far.

Their lifeless eyes looking down on the ground, his wife's body was thrown on top of Yuki. He assumed she did it to protect their daughter.

Ryouichi was holding a knife, it had no blood on it. Whomever had attacked his family wasn't harmed whatsoever.

Muzan gagged. It was too much. The idea of everyone who was family to him passed away was overwhelming.

He touched Ryouichi's hand, it was cold. He had his torso slashed beyond repair.

He then kneeled towards his fallen wife, she had a hole in her stomach and a slash on her neck. She was cold too.

He felt his hands shaking when he rolled his wife's body aside, her beautiful face on such a bloodied and mangled body. He then made his way to Yuki.

Yuki looked surprisingly fine. She didn't have any injuries when Muzan took a glance at her. He noticed there was blood that had matted her hair as he gently picked her up and examined her head. She had the back of her head slammed onto the ground. Blood still leaking from her head.

Wait…

Muzan picked up her limp hand with a spare hand as he laid his daughter's head on his lap. He didn't believe it.

She's still warm.

—|[0o0]|—

Muzan wrapped his daughter in his cloak, hoping that the warmth of the thin fabric could keep her alive. He gave her a piggyback ride down the mountain, trying to get to the nearest clinic or doctor as quickly as possible.

It was night, the darkness would normally make it impossible for anyone to navigate through the forest. But not him. His eyes could see through all of that, he never really acknowledged this peculiar ability of his. The ability to see things that others cannot.

This aura he had seen earlier in the kitchen and bedroom, that was what he saw. The killer.

That burgundy red aura, it took the form of a child. It was faint but he saw it. He saw what he saw.

What he had seen in his house was a demon. A man-eating demon that the old man had told him about. They roam around at night for their prey, bloodthirsty and hungry.

But why didn't the demon eat his family? That was what's so out of place.

Muzan shook his head, he didn't have time to think about that. He had to think about Yuki.

He looked back, looking at Yuki's resting face. There was blood smeared across her face and her hair was a mess. If he could, he would've taken the time to clean her up but now's not the time.

It was snowing heavily. The snowflakes melting when they met with his skin, the wind blowing harshly making Muzan hesitate when taking another step. He might be blown away.

His legs were tired from running. The nearest village was still a few miles away, he just returned from there a few hours ago. If he did it hundreds of times before then he can do it again. He'll do it for Yuki.

Because she was his daughter. And he won't let anyone take away anything from his world again.

"Grrr…"

Muzan trudged on, thinking the sound was nothing but a figment of his imagination. There couldn't be anyone else in the woods other than him and Yuki. But it was night and that could mean demons could possibly attack him.

"Graggh!"

The father turned around to be met with a guttural scream as he felt his body slip and his legs grow weaker. Yuki suddenly thrashed around. He collapsed and slipped off a cliff.

_FWUMP!_

The journey down was a rough one as Muzan nearly hit his head on a tree branch, the scratches and wounds he'd suffered stung. He managed to land in soft snow despite it all, with only minor injuries.

He groaned as he pushed himself up from the comfort of snow as he stood up slowly. He looked behind him, Yuki wasn't there.

"Yuki!" Muzan cries out. The name rang out but no response.

As he attempted to cry her name another time, he was suddenly interrupted by a voice foreign to him.

"You named this demon?"

Muzan turned to his left, he met eyes with dull blue orbs who had his hand on his daughter's arms. The father felt his heart being ripped out of his chest.

_Demon?_

The person who spoke was a teen with black hair, sporting a haori with two different patterns on both the right and left sides. He saw with clarity that the cloth was hand-stitched; the right side was dark red as the left was yellow and green, in a complicated diagonal-checkered pattern. In his right hand was a katana, shining blue as it gleamed under the moonlight. While in his left hand, it was occupied.

The mysterious man had a tight grip on Yuki as she twisted around, growling like a feral cat. She tried thrashing around, to her frustration she couldn't free herself.

"Let go of her!" Muzan cried out, a rush of emotions fueling his body. He rushed forward, blind to what happened next as he felt something gut him in the stomach. He dropped to his knees as he gasped for breath. His eyes saw what happened.

_He's so fast!_

The swordsman hit him using the butt of the katana he held. He didn't even loosen his grip on Yuki while doing that.

"Are you dense? I expect you to know better than to protect something like this," the other said as he looked down on Muzan, trying to sit up. "Do you know what this is? This is a demon." The man then fluidly moved his blade up to Yuki's neck, the katana barely making contact with skin. "I am a Demon Slayer, it's my job to exterminate their kind."

"Don't kill her! She hasn't hurt anyone! She isn't even capable of hurting others, not even her own family!" Muzan retorted. He clenched his fists as he glared at those blank and empty blue eyes. "My family was killed by someone else, possibly another demon! I saw someone else at the scene, they're to blame!" Muzan then growled. "If anything, I don't know why Yuki is acting like this! Maybe it's because you're holding her captive! Yuki would never eat anyone!"

"This is simple. Her wounds were exposed to demon's blood," the teen countered calmly as he kept his blade steady. "This is how man-eating demons multiply, so it's most likely the demon who killed your family spilled their blood onto your daughter's wounds."

"That doesn't mean anything!" Muzan shouted. "My daughter hasn't eaten anyone! What makes you think she'll do that to me?"

The swordsman frowned slightly. "Because I've seen demons eat their families, regardless of their previous bonds, eat them because they wanted to. They are naturally bloodthirsty and will kill whenever. Your daughter will most definitely kill you as well if I set her free!"

"How would you know anything about her?!" Muzan managed to stand back up, fiercely bared his teeth. "I know I can save her! There has to be a cure to turn her back into a human! So I'm begging you!" He never begged before. "I'm begging you to not kill her, to let her live and to prove that she won't hurt nor eat humans! I know she's not above killing because I'm her father! So please," Muzan then desperately stifled back a sob. "I beg of you to let her live."

For the first time in his life, he had begged. He never begged for anything up until now. He was begging for his daughter's life. He knelt and bowed his head touching the cold freezing snow.

Human or not, it was a life that was going to be reaped for no reason. And he wasn't going to let that happen.

"Don't you dare beg! I could've killed you and your daughter whenever I could and yet you still beg to live?!" The dark haired swordsman shouted. "How ridiculous! You say that as if you're strong but in reality you're just a weakling with no other options but to beg! Let's say if you did find a way to find your daughter a cure to turn her back into a human? But what if it's only in the hands of a demon lord? I highly doubt that someone like you is able to be respected by them with this story of yours. And I don't expect you to respect them back either with that attitude of yours!"

"So I'll tear the cure right out of their hands then!" Muzan yelled.

"What if you can't?! How will you even protect your daughter in this state?" The teen then gripped tighter, making Yuki howl. Her hazel eyes were looking at Muzan, her cat-like slits for iris looking at him as if he were prey. Her hair was down except for one loose ponytail on the right side of her hair. Her yukata was ripped, her sleeves ruined and her sash was bloodied.

The teenager then readied his katana as he had no more words to say.

_(If only I had come sooner.)_

_SHINK!_

Before Muzan could protest any further, the teenager plunged his blade into the left shoulder of Yuki.

"Gyaagh!"

"Yuki!"

Before Muzan knew it, he threw a rock as hard as he could towards the boy; hoping it would distract him. The boy easily blocked the rock with his hilt. Another rock was thrown but dodged once more.

Yuki growled angrily as her body began to contort, her limbs growing longer and physically growing taller. Her arms were bigger, they couldn't be restrained by one meager hand no longer as Yuki twisted around and kicked the boy away.

The swordsman regained his composure as he stood tall, in a battle stance. His katana steady as he saw the demon rush forward Muzan's kneeling figure.

_Crap!_ The swordsman rushes towards the demon. _He'll be eaten if he doesn't get away!_

He readied his blade for the kill until–

"Grah!"

He stopped suddenly, to be met with the demon spreading her arms out in front of her father. Her fangs bared in anger and her eyes piercing in the cold weather.

It was as if she was protecting the man behind her–

No. She was protecting the man behind her. She was protecting him from the blade in which he almost swung to kill.

_Yuki would never eat anyone!_

.

.

.

_So what he said was true. She might be different from the others._

Yuki, threatened by the still blade, leapt towards the swordsman. Her long nails ready to attack and her fangs bared.

Perhaps he should give them the benefit of the doubt.

_WHACK!_

—|[0o0]|—

Muzan was shocked as the man in front of him hit his daughter in the neck, immobilizing her as she fell into the snow. Muzan hurried to pick her up, hugging his daughter. Yuki's body shrunk back into the body of a twelve year old.

The father looked up angrily at the swordsman for an answer. The teenager merely looked somewhere else, sheathing his blade back into his saya*.

The teenager took something out of his haori, Muzan frowned as he carefully analyzed what the boy would do next.

It was a piece of bamboo. The boy threw it towards Muzan who caught it, curious.

"Put that on her mouth, make sure she always has it on her," the swordsman said as Muzan nodded as he was then also given a string of ribbon.

He took to work as he tied the bamboo around Yuki's mouth, double-checking if she was biting on it.

"So, do you trust her?" Muzan asked tentatively, as he picked up Yuki in his arms. The snow was faltering but the wind picked up.

The teenager had no comment as he started walking away into the thickets.

"Look for an old man named Urokodaki Sakonji who lives at the foot of Mount Sagiri." The teenager said as he turned around. "Tell him that Tomioka Giyuu sent you. It seems like a good time for you to hurry out, it's dark and the sun doesn't seem like rising right about now. Demons can die when exposed to the sun, so don't take your daughter when the sun is out."

"Thank you. You said you were a Demon Slayer right?" Muzan asked. "I want to find the demon who did this to my family and kill him! I'll become a Demon Slayer!"

The now identified boy, Tomioka, seemed content with Muzan's words as he turned back around and walked into the darkness of the mountain.

And Muzan was alone again with Yuki. Muzan ran his fingers through Yuki's hair, her light brown hair tangled with knots. He could feel his tears trickling down his cheeks as he hugged Yuki even tighter.

He never felt this way before. This feeling of hatred and vengeance.

And the rage just kept piling up.

—|[0o0]|—

Yuki opened her eyes. Her hazel eyes glancing around the area, turning around to see the man that she was protecting.

If only she understood why he was crying when he saw her open her eyes.

—|[0o0]|—

**Definitions:**

Kuromame: A dish consisting of sweet black beans.

Saya: The scabbard of a katana.

—|[0o0]|—

**Notes: ** I would just like to say thank you so much for reading this mess of a fic. I have no idea what went through my head during the time I wrote this fic because I just woke up in the middle of the night and thought: "what if muzan swapped with tanjiro and his unnamed daughter swapped with nezuko?" It's really weird trust me.

I've decided to give Muzan's daughter a name: Yuki. I know it isn't creative but I tried.

I'm also very sorry that I didn't get to describe what the Kibutsuji family looked like in this fic. To clarify: Muzan's wife and daughter looks the same as they looked like in canon. And in the manga flashbacks, Muzan had pretty long hair so I'll be implementing that into his looks in the fic.

I'll probably try to draw what the family looks like, digitally, hopefully.

Anyways, I'd like to thank you all once more for reading! If you have any questions, please ask them! I'd be more than happy to answer them!


	2. Chapter 2: Strength

**Notes: **I'm quite glad I managed to pull this chapter through on time. I'm planning to write a chapter once every week or once every two weeks. I have a lot of work to do and it's a bit exhausting but I'm able to write.

I've decided that I won't draw the family yet. I'll most likely do that when I have some free time, sorry.

—|[0o0]|—

"Mmph!"

Muzan looked at the girl who was touching the stick of bamboo attached to her mouth, looking a bit uncomfortable. The father kneeled down to her height as he rustled the demon's hair, Yuki looking at Muzan with bright eyes.

It's only been a day ever since the attack at his house, some of the villagers who lived near him expressed their sorrow of the murders. Muzan hid the fact that Yuki was still alive, if he told the others that she was a demon; they'd surely pull out their weapons and try to kill her.

The two were currently inside their house, looking for items that could potentially help them along the way to find this Urokodaki Sakonji. Earlier during the day, Muzan took his time to bury his family in the backyard, where Ryouichi and Yuki used to play together.

The memory of his son made him want to cry yet he knew what his son would say if he were to do that.

"_Dad? Why are you crying? You know mom wouldn't like that."_

Muzan sighed as he looked down at the floor. He wondered what would've happened if he had returned home sooner. Would he have been able to protect his family back then?

He shook his head. No, he has to stop dwelling on things that he couldn't do. He has to think about the things that he _could_ do now.

He rummaged through his wardrobe, it was winter so he had to wear something warm. He decided to wear the kimono he had on currently and elected that he should probably wear a haori as well, just to be safe. The haori he wore had a diagonal pattern of slightly stretched hexagonal shape. There was a slight gradation from top to bottom: dark gray fading into white.

He also managed to find an old cloak that he bought from a merchant who sold items from other countries. He wrapped himself in the dark-gray cloth and clasped it.

Muzan looked pleased with his makeover as he played around with cloak he had on. He suddenly felt a small tug from behind him as he turned around to see Yuki.

The girl's eyes turned into crescents, showing her happiness. She then pointed at Muzan's haori then pointed to herself and her ripped yukata.

"Oh, you need a change of clothes. Why do I forget?" Muzan grumbles as he mentally facepalmed himself. He then patted Yuki on the shoulder as he made his way down to Yuki's bedroom, now looking through her wardrobe to find something good for her to wear.

He managed to come back to Yuki with a brand new yukata, colored light lavender with a fan-like pattern. He also found a haori that was in a dark shade of a plum-like color that fit alongside her new yukata.

When Yuki saw the clothes, she happily took them and Muzan left the room to let his daughter change. After doing so, Muzan has already packed the items that they needed. He had some money, some food, brought a parasol for Yuki in case the two really needed to travel in the sun, and finally a weapon.

Muzan didn't really have anything to call a weapon besides the kitchen knife which he didn't want to use, but he did have his farming tools. He ended up taking his trusty shovel that he just cleaned a week ago.

He smirked at the idea of using a shovel to whack a demon in the face.

_Demon…_

Just the thought of a demon made his heart wrench in wrath. The pain of guilt and rage made him want to snap the shovel in half but—

He turned to look at Yuki who seemed concerned.

He had to keep all that rage inside him for the time being. He had to focus on keeping Yuki safe, his only family left.

He had a long journey in front of him, looking back at the entrance of the house that his mother and father worked so hard to get.

It was nighttime, the stars were shining in the dark only sky. It was like a box of jewels unclaimed by the heavens above.

Yuki held Muzan's hand, she had a hopeful look in her eyes as she pointed to the forests and beyond.

Muzan merely nodded.

"Let's hurry."

—|[0o0]|—

Muzan kept his trek to Mount Sagiri near paths that were mostly abandoned or rarely used in order for other people not to notice Yuki. Mostly it was for her safety but another part of him wanted to say it's best to not talk to anyone in his current state.

Who'd want to talk to a man with so many feelings mixed in his mind? If anyone _did _approach him, Muzan would most likely say he hadn't slept the previous day which was true for the most part.

He and Yuki had to leave immediately when the sun had set, the two managed to pass a village unnoticed during the few hours that they travel during the night. It might take them another day to reach Mount Sagiri considering the circumstances. They didn't have to immediately go there, but since that Giyuu person had probably already told this Urokodaki that they'd be arriving, then Muzan would sure as hell make sure he gets to this mountain.

He sighed as he paused, letting the fatigue in his legs fade a bit. He tried to support himself as he put his hand on his lap and his other hand wiping the sweat off his brow. Although it was near freezing in this time of the year, he was still able to sweat. Even last year when he had been heavily working in the fields in winter, he hadn't broken in a sweat.

He reached for his pack, taking out his pouch of water as he took a swig. He looked at Yuki who looked unfazed as she looked at the leather pouch containing water.

Muzan wondered if demons were able to consume any other type of food other than just human meat.

"Do you want any water? We've travelled a long way," Muzan asked as he gestured the pouch towards Yuki.

His daughter shook her head in response as she then reached out to feel the texture of the pouch, nudging it and then poking it. Muzan nodded as he put the drink away, ready to travel again.

After a bit, Muzan found a small cave where he could rest. His shoulders were hunched over and his legs continued to ache. Yuki was behind him as she then tugged him deeper into the cave.

Now that Muzan thought about it, he wasn't as active as he thought he'd been when working in the fields or working around the house. He'd just patiently worked around the dirt and planted seeds, he never really exerted much strength when doing such labor. Plus, he never actually did much back at the house. All he did was scold his children whenever they did something wrong or take care of the elders. Maybe that was why he didn't sweat during last year.

Considering what he has to do for tomorrow, he wished he would have done more work. And now he has to make up for all the times he felt lazy or wasn't productive with this journey to a mountain.

Muzan took out some food and ate in small bites, hoping it could trick his starving stomach so it could feel full. He peered outside the cave and groaned.

The soft glow of light blue and violet lit the sky up.

They had to wait until sundown.

Muzan decided to sleep through the morning as he then was woken up by Yuki, shaking him awake. He nearly choked on his own spit.

He woke up just when the sun was setting down which was convenient for him. He sat up, cleared his throat as he patted himself down.

They continued on the abandoned road that Muzan decided that the both of them should take. It took them an hour until they've both found a way up Mount Sagiri and met with people, they were a couple of villagers who lived nearby the road that the two were at. They warned Muzan of a couple of people who have disappeared when approaching the mountain during sundown.

The thought of missing people made him a bit nervous, making the assumption that they must've been attacked by demons but played it off as they must've lost their way up. He thanked the villagers and continued going up.

As he maneuvered around the enormous rocks, he reminisced about the last time he went traveling and selling his crops alongside Ryouichi and Yuki. He remembered Yuki jokingly told Ryouichi off for tripping on a rock.

"_Come on, I thought you were better than that!"_

"_Hey! Everyone trips at some point, I bet even dad does too!"_

"_Hmph, consider that. Have you ever seen dad trip before?"_

"_No, but it doesn't mean I can't make him!"_

"_Wait! Ryo!"_

The bickering ended up with Ryouichi tackling Muzan into the ground. The two siblings elected that their father did not actually trip.

Muzan smiles. He's only taken Yuki alongside him and Ryouichi on a few trips together to the village to sell but whenever he's with his children, he feels as if a weight has been lifted off his shoulders. One could possibly say it was the feeling of safety.

He grasped onto that safety still but the guilt was still there. It existed.

He knew what was going on around him but he just couldn't accept it. The death of his family, the transformation of his daughter from human to demon, the confirmation that demons _do_ exist and there was some apparent group that exterminates said demons–

What was there not to believe? He was basically living proof but here he was, not believing in himself. He was a walking contradiction, a complete opposite of what he used to be.

All he wanted in life was to be the perfect man. To hide away from all the impurities that this world has to offer yet the world was so against his ideals that it had to spill blood in order to prove their point. Prove their point against him.

So how could he _not_ feel any guilt?

How could he _not_ feel like absolute failure that he is right now? How could he leave his family behind to die like that? How dare he not be there as the father, at least be there to protect them. How dare he assume that his family would be safe without him.

How dare he…

Muzan kept walking, hand in hand with Yuki. Just the idea of his own self-pity was disgusting to himself, no doubt. It was indeed selfish of him to believe in such things like that but it was true. How could he do that?

He shook his head. He was still somewhat perfect in his own right. He is the father who will protect his children no matter what. He will continue to protect Yuki with his life.

He'll do that by killing that despicable demon that massacred his family. That pathetic demon, he was going to make sure it felt the same exact pain that it caused upon his family. What type of disgusting creature would do such a thing? A _**demon**_.

Muzan gasped for breath as he leaned on a tree, it was still too much. Who in their right mind would live on a mountain?

_Oh wait, I do._

Muzan scoffed at his own hypocrisy. At least it was easier to both go down and up at his place. Here at Mount Sagiri, it was like no one tried to sweep the pathway up the mountain here. Rocks, peebles and many stray leaves were hidden beneath the snow. Now he wanted to talk to Urokodaki about maintaining the mountain more than talking to him about becoming a Demon Slayer.

His eyes lit up in relief when he was helping Yuki get over some wreckage that blocked their path, they saw the roof of some temple or hut.

"Finally," Muzan huffed happily as he then led Yuki up the mountain once more, approaching the temple. Suddenly he stopped and his breath hitches. Yuki looked at her father in concern. They were just a few yards away yet…

Muzan blinked.

_This aura…_

In front of him, he saw something. That something was a disgusting grayish-green color, it was hard to look at, yet he kept staring. The aura had a silhouette of maybe a grown man, long nails and it had a hunched back. It had to be a demon.

Muzan took a step back. No, he couldn't approach a demon like this. Maybe this was the reason why people were missing from the information that the villagers had told him about. Then something came back into his mind, the words making him reconsider running away.

_What if there's people who are barely alive? Just like Yuki?_

Muzan bit his lip. He's always been like this, he's always been such a pathetic coward. He can't just let this get swept under the rug.

He approached the temple, hesitating as he put his hand on the sliding door. His hand was shaking as Yuki seemed to be salivating. He knew what he'd be looking at in just a second, he knew what might happen to Yuki if he opened this door. The scent of blood had grew stronger with each second as Muzan can practically hear the munching of human flesh and meat.

It was crazy but he was going to kill this demon. He didn't exactly know how, but he has to do something.

He opened the door with a slam as he readied his shovel in one hand and another hand in front of Yuki to protect her.

He couldn't believe his eyes. There were numerous bodies in the temple, they lay on top of each other and sprawled across the floor. The blood covering nearly every inch of the room. And in the center of it all was a demon. It was the same demon with the same aura that Muzan had seen earlier, devouring someone's limp arm.

"Huh?" The demon drawled as a thin line of blood dropped down from his mouth to his chin. The demon put down the severed limb as he faced his direction from his meal to the entrance. "Who the hell are you?! This is my territory so go scram!" The demon then leaned towards Muzan's direction, his eyes narrowing in suspicion. "You… Aren't you two humans?"

It was nearly impossible to see as Muzan caught the demon while it pounced on him, swinging his shovel and slamming it across the demon's face. The demon was dazed as Muzan approached him and then slashed the dull metal across his neck. Muzan then turned around to see Yuki, still standing at the entrance.

"Get lost!" Muzan screamed as he then attempted to swing his shovel another time, the rush of adrenaline made him nearly forgot that the victim of his attack could possibly attack him from elsewhere.

The demon then immediately grabbed for Muzan's neck, dragging the grown man down into the rocky ground. He then gripped tightly on both of Muzan's hands and placed a foot on his stomach.

With the shovel still in his hand, Muzan growled as he tried his best to escape his grasp. He only managed to successfully poke the demon to which he earned a pitiful cackle.

"Not even that blunt stupid shovel of yours can even hurt me! What makes you think you can kill me—"

The demon couldn't even finish his sentence as a flash of purple and brown kicked at the demon's head, a splash of blood was splattered across Muzan's clothes.

"What the hell?!"

The demon's head was nearly sliced off, although the job was messy, Muzan didn't hesitate. Muzan lifted the shovel up as if it were an axe and struck it down onto the cut made on the demon's neck.

A sickening crunch was heard alongside the shout of the demon's pain. And he brought the shovel back down once more and heard a "_pop!"_

The head was decapitated as Muzan looked behind him once more.

"Mmh!"

It was Yuki, her zori slippers were drenched in blood but she didn't seem to mind as she rushed towards Muzan. Yuki hugged Muzan tightly, her cat-like eyes staring back to his in glee. She didn't mind the blood on his clothes.

_She nearly decapitated this guy! _Muzan felt a bit intimidated by his own daughter as he then approached the demon's head. At least he didn't feel as intimidated by this meat bag.

"Ngh, I had a bad feeling about that stupid girl of yours! Disgusting! How can you do this to your own kind!" The demon spat out in distaste. "Traitor!"

"You dare call her a traitor?" Muzan said coldly as he picked up the head by his hair. "You're the traitor. You used to be human yet you eat them just for your satisfaction!"

The demon winced as Muzan then dropped the dead weight onto the floor, putting his foot at the side of his head as he readied his shovel. He was going to impale their skull and then crush his head. He's going to make sure this _thing_ doesn't hurt anyone again.

"Mm!"

Yuki's cry made Muzan hesitate as he saw the limp body of the demon's decapitated body move towards her. Yuki growled as she clawed fiercely at the body, blood covering her nails.

At that moment, Muzan was then tackled by a pair of arms which then wrapped around his torso like a snake. The arms were too strong, unable to fight back as the arms managed to slither around his body as Muzan managed to see a literal head with arms coming out the sides of the demon's neck.

"Just die already!" Muzan hissed as he then stood up and slammed himself to the ground, hoping the decapitated head would get knocked-out by the impact. Sadly, it only managed to make the head angry.

"How about you die instead!"

"Not a chance in hell!" Muzan said as an idea formed in his head. The only area that the stupid demon hadn't incapitated him was his legs as Muzan purposely tripped on a stray rock, catching the demon off-guard as his arms loosened. Muzan then unclipped his cloak and rapidly wrapped the head in the fabric, suffocating him.

Grabbing the stray shovel, Muzan then saw the head trying the rip his way out as he seemed to be cursing out a string of profanities. Muzan saw his opportunity as he shoved the shovel through the demon's mouth, put his foot on the shoulder of the shovel and stomped. The action seemed to spark some type of reaction from the demon as it shrieked and flinched. His arms flailing about, ripping some cloth off his haori.

But that didn't stop him from continuing to furiously stomp on the shovel until Muzan completely made sure the demon was dead. He heard the head's jaw snap as he continued to stomp.

And he did. Every stomp, he heard their jaw break even more. Every stomp, the more he felt justified in killing the demon.

He just kept stomping, the blood dying his clothes a dark red.

At the end, he stomped as hard as he could as he finally heard the sickening crack. He concluded that he met contact with their now broken spine. The adrenaline kicked back in. He wanted to continue stomping. He wanted to continue making this putrid man suffer for killing his victims but…

Was it worth it?

Muzan gazed down below at the now limp demon, laying on the ground with a pool of blood surrounding him. The smell of death reeked as Muzan left the shovel, still impaled in the demon's mouth. He was pretty sure the shovel was well secured and that the demon would've probably died by now or… something.

Muzan fell to his knees after taking a few steps away from the head, tired as the adrenaline left his body. A wave of nausea came crashing down towards him as he felt incredibly dizzy, wiping his head with the back of his hand. He then nearly threw up, hunching over as he covered his mouth.

He felt a pair of hands, cold yet comforting at the same time support him back up. He looked up with teary eyes, wiping away the tears.

Yuki looked concerned as she had a pained look on her face, her arms wrapping around her father. Muzan was too weak to hug her back but managed to pat her on the head to her satisfaction. She hummed happily.

Muzan looked around as he didn't see the body anywhere. _Did Yuki throw it away somewhere?_

Muzan didn't care as he struggled to get back on his feet, stumbling a few times until he managed to stand up with the help of Yuki. The two looked silently down upon the still head of the demon who was still wriggling around weakly.

A pang of guilt hit Muzan as he felt the need to put this demon out of his misery as he walked towards him. But what could he do? Everything that he did was useless.

Then, silently and out of nowhere, he heard Yuki cry to him and a hand placed on his shoulder. Muzan turned around, shocked as he saw a man wearing a tengu mask looking back at him with those blank porcelain eyes of his mask.

His aura was a calm blue, it was as if he were a river.

"You won't be able to kill it with that weapon of yours," A deep and aged voice rang out from the mask.

Muzan hesitated to speak as he didn't recall seeing this man before. He wavered as he remembered the advice that Tomioka had told him when travelling to Mount Sagiri.

"It's the sun, right?" Muzan replied as he shakily looked at the head. The arms connected from the neck were weakly squirming around, like a near-dead spider or cricket. His heart felt as if it could burst.

He did remember that when he was in the cave with Yuki and was about to sleep, Yuki dragged him deeper into the cave in order to avoid the sunlight.

The man under the mask didn't speak a word.

—|[0o0]|—

Muzan finished burying the bodies of the deceased as the sun rose. As he observed the sun come back up into the sky, the demon did indeed die when under the sunlight. The head turned into dust as his remains were blown into the wind. Muzan had Yuki hide in the temple to escape the sunlight.

The man who wore the tengu mask had introduced himself as Urokodaki Sakonji, a former Demon Slayer as he then approached Muzan as he was staring into the sun.

"You want to become a Demon Slayer, correct?" Urokodaki asked as Muzan turned around to face him with a confused expression.

"Yes. I have to become a Demon Slayer, for my family and my daughter," Muzan replied. Urokodaki merely shook his head, Muzan deciphered that as an action of disdain.

"So? You reek of guilt and that guilt can eventually lead to being selfish," Urokodaki then picked up the shovel that was used to hurt the demon from earlier. "You are too overcome with emotion to ever become a Demon Slayer."

Muzan stifled a growl.

"And your daughter is dangerous for she is a demon. She may hurt and eat you if you are not too careful," Urokodaki replied. "You will be at fault for your own decisions, you might let your emotions get the better of you. Your feelings for your daughter will jeopardize your own end goal. What if you let your daughter get killed? Then you would possibly be in the most grief-stricken state in your life, only caring about the souls of the dead at that point. You might as well commit seppuku at that point."

_Don't. Don't let him get to you like that. Even if he's right, don't._

"I… I didn't know," Muzan mumbles, as he crosses his arms. He can see Urokodaki prepare to lift his arm, but Muzan continues on. "But can you blame me? She's the only family I have left that's alive, demon or not, she's my daughter. I know I've been rambling on and on about that but it's true. I want to tell myself that although my daughter is a demon, she still has a heart of a human. My family died because I didn't get there in time. If you think I can just move on from such a tragedy then you're absolutely wrong. This guilt that resides within me will continue to live until the day I die." Muzan took a deep breath. "Then if you're the expert on my feelings, what should I do? Stop?"

"No, you continue on. Grow stronger," Urokodaki replies. "I was planning to slap you, but it seems you knew what was going to happen. You have a unique ability Mr. Kibutsuji."

Just as Muzan was about to speak, Urokodaki swiftly slapped him across the face.

"Yet you lack the ability to utilize it to its fullest potential," Urokodaki added on as he turned around back into the temple. Muzan looked at the former Demon Slayer in disbelief as he touched his face. The wound did sting yet it was to teach him something.

"When you are ready, I will test you on whether or not you truly are able to become a Demon Slayer," Urokodaki called out. "Come to me whenever you are ready." And he then closes the doors from the temple, leaving Muzan outside.

He rubbed his cheek, hoping that the potential handprint wouldn't form too red on his face. If it did, it'd be quite embarrassing.

Muzan sighed. It was the beginning of a journey after all.

And he was ready.

—|[0o0]|—

**Notes: **Writing Muzan was really difficult. I really wanted to show Muzan's ruthlessness when trying to kill the demon but I just felt it wasn't the right moment to actually implement something like that into this story yet. Maybe I'll do that later when during the Final Selection part. Canon divergence will officially start from there so until I post chapter 3 & 4, you'll start to see some actual changes. I also just found out that Muzan's wife is named Rei after reading his wiki which I felt surreal after seeing it. I was completely sure that Muzan never stated his wife's name but I guess I must've missed that little name drop in the manga. Anyways, thanks for reading this installment! I'll try to update this story weekly. I guess I have enough time to do just that.


	3. Chapter 3: Again

Muzan panted like a dog, gasping for air as he ran as fast as he could. This was worse than traveling up this damned mountain and now he had to travel up more. He carried Yuki up the mountain by giving her a piggyback ride, covered in his haori and his ripped up cape. The sun was out and Urokodaki had forced him to travel to his house, Muzan's patience was running thin as he worried for Yuki's safety.

The haori and cloak managed to block out the sunlight yet Muzan insisted that Urokodaki take his own haori off just for safe measures but he refused. Just the thought of that old man infuriated Muzan. He thought that the man would give him exactly what he wanted, power to exterminate those pathetic demons but all he got was some running.

He scoffed at the fact as he looked on forward, Urokodaki was in front of him. The old man didn't seem fatigued, more as if this exercise was a mere practice for him. Every step that he took was silent, like the gentle waves that washed over the ground. Every step seemed to flow ever so smoothly as in comparison, Muzan's steps were like the crashing tides.

No matter how many times he tried to run as effortlessly as the former Demon Slayer, he couldn't do it. He just wasn't good enough.

"Please slow down!" Muzan cried out as he tried to muster up the last bit of stamina left to make a dash towards the man in front of him. "You're too fast!"

"Do you believe that time will stop just to let you reach your destination?" Urokodaki barked harshly as Muzan bit back a snarl. "The slower you are, the more time you waste."

Muzan looked at the ground, the pebbles catching his eye as he admired the small rocks. If he was going to do something to pass the time running, he might as well accept the fact he wouldn't be returning to his farm life anytime soon.

They all managed to reach Urokodaki's house, Muzan was breathing heavily as he desperately took in the precious cold air. He stepped inside the small house, his legs wobbly as he nearly collapsed onto the wooden floor. If he let himself go like that, he was pretty sure he would've broken the floorboards. Instead, Muzan carefully sat down as he loosened his hold on Yuki and the two layers of cloth covering her body.

Yuki's face was slightly red, probably from the heat she must've endured when bundled up against her father's back. Muzan touched her forehead as he checked whether or not she had a fever until he heard a voice interrupted him.

"Demons cannot contract any type of illnesses," Urokodaki stated as he stood next to Muzan, the tengu mask looking at him. It was as if the mask itself was judging his worth, whether or not he should be thrown away as demon fodder.

Muzan frowned as he looked at Yuki. Demons can't contract any illnesses? Does that mean they could regenerate? That's what the demon from the temple did as he regrew arms to ensnare Muzan in order to kill him. Would that mean Yuki could do that as well?

Yuki eyes the tengu mask on Urokodaki's face, looking as if she was going to snatch the mask right under his nose. Muzan quickly stood up, wincing as a sharp pain formed in his feet.

"I managed to reach the top of this mountain, so what now?" Muzan asked as he kept his eye on Urokodaki, awaiting another order to be barked at him. "Run down the mountain and run back up?" Muzan said sarcastically.

"The opposite," Urokodaki responded as Muzan groaned. Why did he always jinx himself whenever the situation was ripe?

"When do we–, I, do that then?" Muzan inquired, drawing in a deep ragged breath. "You don't expect me to do it right now with an empty stomach and low stamina, right?"

He knew he was probably being rude to his future mentor, but did he really have any other option? All the old man had done was just bark two or three useless orders at him and honestly, Muzan was tired of it. He had to run at his top speed and carry Yuki at the same time, this house took him forever to get to.

"You may eat and rest after my trial," Urokodaki replied as he opened the door, the cold winter wind made Muzan shiver. Muzan hesitatingly looked at Yuki, she was bundled in Muzan's cape as she handed Muzan his haori. Muzan gave his daughter a quiet smile as he hugged her lovingly. It'd be a while until he came back, but he was sure she'll be alright.

Muzan wore his haori as he followed Urokodaki out the door, waving goodbye to Yuki who waved back.

The two men travelled up the mountain once more, traveling further up as Muzan noticed the air was getting thinner. It was harder to breathe as Muzan tried to adjust his breathing, he'd done this numerous times when he had traveled alongside his father to hike up mountains. He'd usually have to concentrate harder in order to achieve this feat, making it hard for him to focus on anything else.

Muzan sighed, the terrain around him changed as he was trying to walk on the horribly rough and jagged terrain. Sharp rocks surrounded him, tall trees shadowed over him as he looked behind him. The steep incline of the mountain made the way down the mountain look like a one-way trip to death if Muzan was to slip and fall.

His legs shook as he bit his lip, trying to distract himself from the fatigue. The scene in front of him started to get misty, it was getting harder to see what was in front of him. Muzan looked around as he was about to speak up as he noticed Urokodaki vanished from his sight. The old man was nowhere to be found in the thick mist.

"Sakonji!" Muzan panicked as he focused on his breath. He had to stay calm or else he'll run out of oxygen. He turned around, trying to look past the trees as he closed his eyes. He took in the darkness for one second as he then remembered what Urokodaki's aura looked like. It was blue, like the calming waves of the ocean.

Then he opened his eyes, this time he looked around as he ignored everything around him and focused on finding that aura. Muzan managed to find a figure hiding behind a tree, they seemed to notice that Muzan had found out where he stood as Urokodaki stepped into his view.

"Starting now, I will test whether or not I shall take you in as a student to be trained under my tutelage," Urokodaki said, standing straight and tall as a pillar. "You must come back down to my house by foot, from this mountain. You must arrive back before sunrise or else I must leave you two in the sunlight."

Muzan's eyes widened, he nearly fell over.

What did he mean by "leave you two in the sunlight?"

_It can't mean..._

"You're leaving my daughter to die?!" Muzan yelled, feeling his throat almost go raw from the sheer volume of his outburst. He clenched his fists, his nails digging into his palm as he ignored the pain. "How _dare_ you!"

"If you're that worried, then just quit," Urokodaki suggested quite harshly, turning his back on Muzan. "Or you can try and get to my house before sunrise, the choice is yours. If you don't want your daughter to die."

Muzan scowled as he felt the guilt in his heart grow tenfold, anger starting to form as he bared his teeth. How could this old man do this to him? He had absolutely no right to kick his daughter into the vicinity of the sun, he had no rights! Muzan was about to scream again in anger yet he couldn't find someone to direct this emotion to. Urokodaki disappeared.

Muzan didn't bother trying to find his aura this time, it was useless anyways. If the bastard was here, he'd probably want Muzan to get down the stupid chunks of rock before the time limit.

Muzan took in several deep breaths, pushing down the anger and guilt to the back of his head. He can't get down this mountain with these emotions intervening with him. He had to stay strong for Yuki or else she would die due to his own incompetence. If Yuki died, he'd never hear the end of it from the spirits of the dead.

He cursed. He knew he had to get down this mountain but just by judging from Urokodaki's words that were said to him, it wasn't going to as easy from first glance.

_"Starting now, I will test whether or not I shall take you in as a student to be trained under my tutelage."_

That line still irked him to no ends. So this was a test that Urokodaki had set up just for him. Muzan also vaguely recalled Urokodaki referring to this as a trial as well.

Muzan growled. The possibility of the old man putting up dangerous traps around the mountain was certainly high. Maybe some harmless yet annoying ones, like pebbles being pelted at him? It could be something that would try to make him give up at any moment. He didn't want to find out as he started making his way down to Urokodaki's house.

Walking down the mountain wasn't as much as a laborious task as walking up. Walking down took a lot less energy as Muzan had learned throughout the years, traveling from his previous house to their nearest village to sell crops. Maybe it wasn't as hard because there wasn't much to carry back home.

Muzan sighed as he looked into the sky, the stars were still in place and so was the bright moon.

Muzan focused as he tried to find Urokodaki's lingering aura, after all, the old man had to be in the mountain before. He managed to find an aura that seemed to be walking down the mountain which stood right next to him which shocked him immensely. He must've been following the path back down quite closely then. Muzan then, hopefully, jogged down the rough terrain as he suddenly felt something being tugged on by his foot.

Just as Muzan looked down to check what had happened, he got pelted by rocks as he then fell to the ground. His palms were scraped as he was trying to defend himself from any other projectiles when falling down. The pain hurt him as he could see small droplets of blood forming on his left hand, feeling disgusted with himself. He shook his head, how could he get hurt from such a flimsy attack?

Muzan punched the ground, getting nothing in return as he only got more pain. He let out a short cry of anger. There was a rope that had tripped him, laying on the rock-covered ground.

He got back up, and kept at it. He kept walking, keeping an eye out for anymore traps. He checked if there were any rope, triggers, or anything out of the ordinary that could potentially trap him.

But after taking a few steps, he nearly fell into a pitfall that was convincingly disguised as the rest of the terrain. He almost felt his heart jump right out of his chest. If he had fallen for the trap, then it would've taken him probably forever to get out of. He then took a step back, feeling something got tugged. Muzan immediately dropped to the ground but forgot that pitfall was in front of him, a log came out of nowhere and was swung towards his direction as Muzan felt his body get flung into the pit. He felt a sharp pain form as he landed on his back in the cold dirt, the log had disappeared.

_So this is how it is._ Muzan thought as he stood on his feet, he felt a cut form on his cheek. He touched his newly formed wound, it stung a lot. Muzan struggles as he weakly climbed out of the pit, barely managing to cling onto the surface of the earth as he nearly slipped.

_Shit!_ Muzan standing over the pit, it must've took him nearly ten minutes or so to get out. Dirt was now matting his hair, making him snarl.

He got caught in three traps in just under seven minutes. He had cuts and scrapes covering his arms as he felt useless. Utterly useless. He couldn't get down this stupid mountain if he kept going on like this. The thought of Yuki turning to dust just like the other demon makes his skin crawl. He can't do this.

He felt the tears forming, the tears running over the cut on his cheek. It kept stinging.

The attacks had knocked the air out of him, it was better harder to breathe as he couldn't hold onto his concentration. He wanted to desperately scream in anger, to fight back against the test but he only let out a whimper.

Was this all he was able to do? He couldn't notice any of the traps nor could he evade the traps as well. Maybe he had to do it another way, maybe he–

Suddenly, an idea formed. He calmed down, pushing down frustration and tried to adjust his breathing once more.

Urokodaki put up these traps, so there must be some lingering aura on them. Muzan thought to himself, he might be able to get through this after all. He took a deep breath as he stood up, surveying the area. Then, he saw the faint aura that was emanating from some traps that was visible to him, glowing ever so faintly. He felt confident as he started to jog through the traps he could see as of now, trying his best to avoid the ones he didn't expect or were expertly hidden.

He picked up speed as he continued down the mountain, traps being rigged as rocks and logs flew to him. He fell, was paid in pain but he kept standing. He took a deep breath as he took note that he was getting better at expecting the traps. It hurt all over but he was doing it for something. He was doing it to protect.

A rock hit him as Muzan tried his best to ignore the stinging pain, wiping his face with the back of his hand. A log knocked him over, losing his balance as a horrid amount of pain formed in his ribs. In front of him was a pitfall, the leaves were blown away from the wind caused from the log's swing. He regained his footing.

_I'll come down._

He jumped over a pitfall, the moonlight giving him hope. There was still time.

_I'll come down no matter what._

—|[0o0]|—

Muzan was on the ground, dragging his tired and aching body across the ground as he was literally a few feet away from the damned house. The very last trap that he had faced was a barrage of bamboo that had whacked him numerous times as Muzan ended up getting hit by one in the nose. He ended up getting a bloody nose which was still dripping blood now. His hands were numb as an aftermath from the freezing temperatures.

But he arrived. He was in front of the old man's house, he finally did it. He managed to get down this mountain and survived all the traps that Urokodaki had set up.

He shuddered as he tightly clenched his haori for warmth. It was extremely cold outside, the freezing wind was starting to dry the blood from his nosebleed. Muzan wavered as he tried to stand on his two feet, stumbling as he mustered up all his strength just to open the house door. He staggered as he slid the door open, stepping one foot inside the warm room as the feeling of hope grew.

His felt his shoulders sag, his legs were about to collapse as he felt the weight of exhaustion come crashing down onto him. Muzan let out a dry cough as he tried to face Urokodaki who looked at him, covering Yuki with a blanket. He trembled as he dropped to his knees in front of Urokodaki, his arms supporting him with the last bits of energy he had left. The dried blood cracked, making Muzan wince. His scraped hands screamed with pain as they met contact with the wooden floorboards.

"I… I'm here," Muzan said in a hushed tone, his eyes started to glaze over as Urokodaki nodded. Muzan felt his eyelids starting to close, the idea of sleep and rest making him compelled to do just that immediately. He tried his best to focus on Urokodaki, the darkness catching up to him. "Please…"

Urokodaki looked outside the open door, the moon had just set. The sun had yet to rise as the stars still shone with brilliance.

"Muzan Kibitsuji, you have proven to me that you have the abilities to become my student," Urokodaki simply stated as a faint smile formed on Muzan's face.

"Is that so?" Muzan said, not expecting an answer as the last thing he saw was Urokodaki holding a blanket. He felt the soft fabric cover him, warmth flooding his freezing body. He could feel his fingers again.

I did it…

Then all he saw was black.

—|[0o0]|—

_Muzan? Wake up will you?_

Muzan turned around, looking at his wife. He was standing in the middle of the dark, the only thing he could see was the ghost of his wife. She smiled softly as she put her hand on top of his, he couldn't feel anything besides the freezing cold wind. He shivered.

_You've done so much. You saved Yuki, so don't feel bad._ His wife, Rei, said. Her voice smooth as silk yet her eyes looked rough, like a chipped topaz. Her eyes had so much sadness in them, staring into his eyes. Why was it directed at him? _Please, you're still alive._

"But why couldn't I do more? Why did I do much, when I can do more?" Muzan questioned himself, now clasping Rei's hands together. He wanted to desperately feel the warmth from her hands again, to make him feel that everything was going to be alright. "Just why? Why did you die? Why didn't I?"

Rei looked down. _I don't know. Maybe it's because I wasn't really ready. But you are._

Muzan shook his head furiously. "No, I'm not. I was never ready for this, I need you back."

_What makes you think that?_ Rei said in a hushed tone, she put her hand on Muzan's cheek. _You're the best man I know and if you can protect Yuki, then all you have to do now is to let go of your guilt._

"What if I can't? I had everything laid out in front of me but I let something go out of control. I left you," Muzan whispered, slightly gripping Rei's hand. "I let Yuki turn into a demon."

_But she's alive._ Rei said as she took her hand away from Muzan's. _Be proud of that._

"She has to continue living like this, starved! As a human, she could eat mochi or soba at anytime but now she can only eat human meat," Muzan refuted. "She'll get killed if I were to show her to anyone!"

_So try to convince them otherwise. Not everything has to be situated within the norms._ Rei replied. _You managed to convince me to live in the mountains when I didn't want to. You can do this._

"No, I can't. This is different, I can't do this. I can't do anything, I-"

_Yes you can. Let go of your guilt._

"Please, stop this. You know I can't."

_Stop this. Believe in yourself like you did before we died._

"No, don't do this to me."

_I won't stop until you stop acting so guilty. You are not guilty for anything, you didn't kill us. You didn't know we were going to die, you didn't know what would've happened on that day. Don't you dare throw your life away just because of something so small like this._

"I…"

_Live._

"I, I will," Muzan said as he faced his wife, only to be met with Yuki's smiling face. Yuki hugged Muzan, her braided pigtails were dancing on her back as Yuki hummed a happy tune. Muzan hugged her back, feeling that empty hole in his heart be filled once more.

_Please don't do that ever again. Mom would never accept that type of behavior from you. Yuki said. Ryouichi would be crying if he saw you and mom talking like that._

"I'm sorry," Muzan replied. He had a sad look on his face, almost as if he was going to cry. "I'll try to make it up to you."

_Dad, I love you._ Yuki embraced Muzan tighter, when she did so, one of her pigtails loosened as her long hazel hair was covering her back as the other pigtail was unbraided. Her eyes turned into slits, fangs peeking over her lower lip and nails growing longer. Yet she still had the human-like qualities that demons didn't have. The kindest eyes a living being could ever have.

Muzan nodded to her. "I know, I love you too."

And then he saw light.

—|[0o0]|—

He blinked, the winter wind blowing at his face as Muzan grabbed his bokken*, trying to mimic the movements that Urokodaki had taught him time and time again. The water breathing katas* were quite difficult, trying to flow like the water wasn't something Muzan ever did before. It was like dancing but it couldn't have any mistakes, pauses or any hesitation in it. He had to do each step perfectly or else the katas would end up being useless.

"Again!" Urokodaki barked harshly as Muzan nodded.

It's been hard over the past few months, after passing Urokodaki's test, Muzan thought that he'd be taught a bit less harshly than intended but he was wrong. His mentor had been making him run down the mountain daily with traps increasing in danger and difficulty. Just yesterday, he nearly got stabbed in the head with a knife although he did see the blade approach him from a mile away, he was just too slow. No, scratch that, his reaction time was too slow.

Urokodaki has also introduced Muzan to the water breathing katas that could be used in order to kill demons. The cultivator taught Muzan each kata, the katas all had an attribute of water that Muzan must mimic in order to make it work. It was hard work but Muzan was able to memorize most of the forms except for the tenth and third form.

Usually, after practicing the water breathing katas, Urokodaki would then test Muzan's enhanced sight. Urokodaki has decided this part of the training would be Muzan's "break" as it was declared as the easiest thing Muzan could do. The two would be sparring and the old man would frequently do a quick jab towards the latter. Muzan would have to defend himself from the attack as soon as he notices it.

There were many other training exercises that Muzan had done, but they were a bit more difficult than what he was doing as of now. For example, he had to swing his bokken as he had to follow that movement alongside the movement of his own body. He had to swing the bamboo blade thousands of times each day until Urokodaki felt content with his practice. Needless to say, it would be until hours later that Urokodaki decided that it'd be best to stop and get a rest. His arms were aching after that.

Urokodaki continued looked at Muzan who was trying to make his footing flow as he raised his bokken, making the movements of the bamboo blade rise like the waves of the water. He was too hesitant, he made at least two pauses when trying to do the third kata. He earned two reprimanding tugs at the ear which Muzan used to do when Ryouichi did something wrong.

Later, Muzan was forced to do breathing exercises as he had to focus mostly on using strength in his abdomen. Urokodaki kept slapping his stomach until Muzan did it right.

After a usual day in training, the two walk back to Urokodaki's house to rest. Muzan would directly go to Yuki to see if she was okay as she was always sleeping whenever he checked up on her.

Yuki has been sleeping for weeks, the longest she had ever slept was three weeks and going. She's been doing this ever since Muzan started his training after his test. Urokodaki had reassured him that it must be because of the lack of energy Yuki must be facing as a consequence from not eating human meat. Muzan thought whether or not it was a good thing. It was a good thing she wasn't eating anyone but she has to sleep for weeks on end.

Muzan would sometimes ramble to his sleeping daughter about his training everyday, hoping that his uncharacteristic behavior would help his daughter wake up. He realized later on that anything he did would be useless because this is all because of Yuki's decision to not eat humans. He couldn't do anything and he accepted that.

But he had to keep training, for Yuki's sake.

After a week later, Urokodaki started hand-to-hand combat which focused mostly on Muzan's reaction time and his enhanced sight. His body hurt all over as Muzan managed to dodge and block most of Urokodaki's blows. He was doing better in reacting to quick attacks the more he sparred against Urokodaki.

It hurt a lot, each day came to him like a breeze. The days of the month went by as Muzan felt the giddiest he's ever been. He finally did the third water breathing kata flawlessly, he's been improving on the tenth kata as well.

He did the katas in front of Urokodaki, Muzan awaited his response as he got ready to do the tenth kata again to prove his point. Instead, he was met with the sound of someone clearing his throat.

Was he going to be met with dissatisfaction? Muzan has gotten used to the three words that Urokodaki threw at him daily: "Do it better." Muzan honestly took that advice and did just that throughout the eight months that he's been at this mountain.

"I have nothing left to teach you," Urokodaki said. Muzan looked at his teacher incredulously as if he was joking. He hadn't done it absolutely perfect, no, he did or else he would've been met with the familiar harsh tug at the ear. But what exactly did his mentor mean?

"I…" Muzan hesitated to speak. Did he have the right to talk about his own progress? After all, Urokodaki was his cultivator. "Then what now?"

Urokodaki motioned for Muzan to follow him, the two walked through the thickets as Muzan looked at his new surroundings. He was stopped as Urokodaki positioned him in front of a giant spherical rock, still holding his bokken with his calloused hands.

"You are on your own from now on," Urokodaki said finally. "If you are to prove to me you are to be joining the Final Selection, then you must improve on your skills."

Muzan staggered as he finally knew what Urokodaki meant.

He had to slice this rock to prove his worth to his mentor, to prove that he was ready to become a Demon Slayer.

Muzan turned around to protest, to say that he wasn't ready to slice a rock that size.

But Urokodaki was gone, his aura was gone.

And he was alone. All over again.

—|[0o0]|—

**Definitions: **

Bokken: A Japanese wooden sword used for training. Takes the size and shape of a katana. Called the_ bok__utō_ in Japan and bokken in English. I'll be using the term bokken instead of the Japanese version.

Kata: Its literal translation means "form". Used in martial arts as a way to memorize and perfect techniques being executed.

—|[0o0]|—

**Notes:** A bit of an early update. It's been fun writing this chapter a lot, dialogue is something I like to write and I'll try not to disappoint you all when writing so. Next chapter is currently in the works and its a bit weird. I already have most of the chapter mapped out but I might need to change some character interactions in it, it seemed a bit awkward.

Anyways, Sabito and Makomo are going to appear soon. It's a bit disappointing that they only appear "physically" in the manga in just a chapter or two.

Well, I guess this is it for now. A short A/N for a long chapter. This is a thousand or a couple hundred more words than the last two chapters so I'm proud of that at least. Anyways, thanks for reading and have a good day/night!


	4. Chapter 4: Fracture

He threw down his katana to the ground, frustrated as he slid down the gigantic boulder. He sat as Muzan was practically oozing disgust.

It's been nearly five months or so ever since Urokodaki had left Muzan to his own in this part of the mountain. The concept of being alone was something foreign to him, he's been around people all his life. Although Muzan rarely approached people, he felt as if he would go crazy without _some_ human interaction.

Not like this. Whenever Muzan would try to talk to Urokodaki about this new test, the cultivator just dismissed him. Urokodaki would talk to him about anything else other than the boulder or the Final Selection. It was peculiar as Muzan noted.

Muzan sighed as he looked up at the autumn sky, the ground around him was littered with orange and pale yellow leaves. The sun was beaming down at him, he blinked as he brushed off some stray hair off his shoulder that went over his shoulder. He untied his low ponytail as he tucked back in the stray hair and tied it once more.

Could anyone slice a boulder with just a sword? The idea was a bit absurd but ever since learning the water katas and breathing techniques, he can fathom the idea. Although, even with all these skills, Muzan couldn't find out a way to actually cut through the rock. The only thing he could do was make a small chip on the thing.

He was honestly glad he was given a katana from Urokodaki, if he were to cut the boulder in half with his bokken, then he would've honestly quit at the beginning.

Muzan stood up, picking up his katana as well as he took a few steps back from the rock. Maybe this time, he should do the breathing technique throughout the regiment. Urokodaki said that when doing so, a person can obtain the same strength as a demon. Muzan took deep heavy breaths, hoping that his way would work. He then got ready to do the deed as he raised his blade and struck down upon the boulder, just like all the other times he's done it throughout the month.

_SHINK!_

Muzan peered at the boulder, seeing what type of damage it took. Sadly, it only had a mere vertical scratch on it.

Muzan whacked the katana playfully several times onto the rock, he knew he couldn't really do anything as of now until he actually did his training. Muzan recalled all the near-death experiences when Urokodaki had trained him. For example, Urokodaki dropped Muzan down the waterfall when he was asleep. Muzan nearly died as he had no idea how to get back up to Urokodaki's house, the difficulty then increased as he almost got hypothermia.

A part of him wanted to say that training on and on again wouldn't result in anything, but the other part of him shouted that if he _did_ train, he'd be able to slice this rock into oblivion and show it off to Urokodaki. He wanted to believe in the latter desperately.

"I can do it," Muzan whispered to himself, raising his katana again. He then slashed the rock so hard, he could almost hear something crack. "I can do it!"

"Shut it!"

Suddenly, he saw something appear out of the corner of his vision. Something hazy was coming towards him, something… that didn't seem like a human.

Muzan raised his blade and protected his face from an incoming bokken that blew him off his feet. He was thrown down onto the ground, tumbling around as he made his way onto his feet. Unexpectedly, he was kicked back harshly onto the ground. The kick hit him straight at the stomach, it felt unforgiving. Muzan groaned as he clutched his stomach, loosening his grip on the handle of his katana.

"Pathetic," A deep voice rang out from above Muzan. He sat up as he did the breathing techniques, it numbed the pain a bit. Muzan peered up, looking to see who attacked him.

It was a boy. He wore a white ceramic kitsune mask with a scar of some sort on the right side of its jaw, he had messy peach hair that ended at his shoulders and wore a haori with… a similar pattern to what that man, Tomioka, had worn when he met the Demon Slayer for the first time. The complicated geometrical pattern was something that he didn't see everyday.

"Hesitant. Slow. Fearful," The boy said as he approached Muzan, the words he spoke dripped with disdain. "You cannot be called a man, you are an excuse of a student."

"Wha…?"

"What are you doing? Still sitting like a duck?" The boy interrupted. "Stand and face me!"

Muzan stood up, taking in what exactly was happening. The boy looked at him with his bokken pointed straight at him.

"Who are you?" Muzan asked. He looked for any type of movement from the masked figure, they were still as water. "And what was that?! You didn't have to ambush me!"

"Say what you want," The masked figure said. "You don't deserve to know my name if you can't even block a simple kick like that."

Muzan bit back a string of profanities as he readied his blade. He had no idea what this kid thought he was, but he was absolutely sure to give him the worst time of his life. The boy thought he was above him? Ridiculous.

Muzan gripped onto his katana's handle, he wouldn't let loose of his blade again. The boy did the same as he got ready in a stance, the dead eyes of the mask made Muzan shudder. It was like Urokodaki's tengu mask, but behind that, Muzan _knew_ Urokodaki meant good. He helped him, he actually had a calming aura that washed over him. But behind the boy's kitsune mask, he couldn't see anything. No aura, no nothing. Blank.

"Says the one with the wooden sword," Muzan snapped back as he bit his lip. "I don't expect a kid like you to do anything with that toy."

Muzan smirked as he readied his katana, letting the sun gleam onto the metal. He felt confident in his current abilities, he knows he can do what Urokodaki has instructed him to do. After all, he was taught everything from his mentor. All of his confidence came crashing down when the boy started to shake.

"Haha…," The boy clutched the front of his mask to keep it from falling off as he threw his head back and laughed hysterically. "Haha! You really are pathetic, aren't you? You must truly underestimate me."

The boy then struck at Muzan with the bokken, a thundering crack rang throughout the area as Muzan barely got hit. Muzan struggled to keep the wooden blade at bay, his arms starting to weaken against the bare strength from the stranger.

"For someone who is so old, you don't comprehend the skills taught to you. You are not strong nor are you resilient!"

_How is his sword still intact?_ Muzan thought as he forced himself to exert all his strength to push back the masked figure. He tried to breathe, trying to focus as the boy let out a huff of disappointment.

"How weak, such a futile effort to incorporate a skill taught by my master," The boy then pushed back, Muzan tried his best to support himself. "Tell me, how long have you been using the breathing techniques that Urokodaki taught you? I can easily say that you've only decided to use concentrated breathing just two days ago!"

"So you're one of his students?" Muzan managed to ask as he barely deflected a blow, returning the attack with an angry strike. "Why haven't you sliced the rock then, if you're going to lecture me on something you can't even do?"

"Hmph, you've got the nerve to talk back to me," The boy growled back, ignoring the question, as he finally let out a flurry of jabs towards Muzan, unable to deflect the assault of pain being thrown right at him.

Muzan stumbled back, starting to lose his footing as he tried to defend himself once more. He let a low snarl as Muzan sucked in as much oxygen as he could, remembering the harsh training he went through to get to this point. He let out a breath as he felt relaxed, looking at the masked boy dead at the eyes and leapt at him with renewed strength. He felt the rush and exhilaration of warmth wash over him, sweeping the blade towards the direction of the boy, trying the predict his future movements. This action seemed to shock the boy as his stance straightened, his grip on his bokken slightly loosened just for a fraction of a second until the boy recovered just as quickly.

The boy moved ever so effortlessly, his steps gentle and flowed with rhythm as he calmly approached the charging man and slammed his blade down onto his head, just as Muzan cut a piece of the boy's haori off.

The boy stood silently as Muzan slumped down onto the ground, groans of pain could be heard from him. It seemed as if he wouldn't be fighting back any time soon.

"Do you think I should take over for now?" A soft feminine voice asked as Muzan could hear something stepping forward.

There was a moment of silence as a muffled huff answered.

"Yes, make sure he's ready."

—|[0o0]|—

It took Muzan a while to open his eyes, the blaring pain that formed from his head hurt like hell. It hurt enough to make him tear up a bit. He touched the top of his head as a jolt of pain formed.

"Are you alright?"

Muzan looked around him to find the source of the voice just as the face of a girl with black hair looked down at him. She was on her knees, she wore a red yukata with a white flower pattern with a sleeveless dark-purple haori and donned a kitsune mask just like the other boy. Her mask had a simple flower pattern on its right cheek.

The girl's cyan eyes looked gently at the fallen man as she awaited a response.

"Ngh… I'm alright," Muzan answered as he sat up. He looked past the girl as he tried to look for his previous opponent. He wanted answers to why he had been attacked right out of the blue. "Where is he? Where's the kid who fought me?"

"If you're looking for a rematch, I'd say you lose again if I'm being honest," The girl replied as she stood up. "But if you train hard enough, you might be able to win the next time you fight."

Muzan cocked an eyebrow. Well, he obviously knew that he had to train hard in order to grow stronger but… he trained for almost a year now. That was too much time that had passed and he couldn't even beat a _kid_.

"But when is _next_ time? I have to beat him! How was he stronger than me? Was he taught something that I wasn't?" Muzan growled as he stood as well, katana in hand while he gazed at the boulder. "And did he already slice that rock before? Do I have to breathe more in orde…"

"Urokodaki would never teach someone more than they already know. We were all taught the same, just like you," The girl said as gentle smile formed. "There's a time for everything, there's no need to rush unless you want to purposely have negative results."

Muzan pauses. Was he rushing? Was he doing that? Maybe he was, considering the fact that he just wanted this whole thing to be over with. Should he take his time?

He shuddered.

"Plus, you're too concerned with someone's well being rather than your own. I understand you want to help somebody but," she said as she kicked a rock. "Right now, you have to be concerned with your progress. She's protected under Urokodaki's care."

Muzan felt his shoulders slump. She was right.

"So, do you think I can be strong enough to slice that rock in half? I mean, with the right training?" Muzan asked.

"Of course, it's not impossible," The girl said. "Urokodaki doesn't give out tests that cannot be passed." The girl then approached Muzan as she looked inquisitively at him.

"Now, can you show me your stance again? I can help you fix some of your mistakes."

"Sure," Muzan said as he got into his basic stance to attack. "By the way, what's your name?"

The girl looked at Muzan with kind eyes, laced with curiosity. She made Muzan lean forward a bit by moving his legs a bit.

"My name is Makomo, pleasure to meet you."

—|[0o0]|—

"Hm, I'd say you should try to put as much strength into your swings. Do you remember what Urokodaki said about swinging your blade?"

"If you don't swing alongside your body, the blade would snap. I know," Muzan answered as he felt tired.

He and Makomo were taking a quick break as Muzan had just finished practicing a hellish amount of sword practice. Makomo has been helping him every day on improving his stances, attacks and his footing.

It's been two months of rigorous training ever since Muzan had met the mysterious boy, whose name was Sabito, and Makomo. Muzan had learned some information from Makomo about their history together.

Makomo and Sabito were also students who were taken under the care of Urokodaki. The two were taught the Water Breathing techniques as well, excelling in both executing the techniques and improving on them.

Makomo was a peculiar girl, the words she spoke were sometimes hard to decipher. Muzan was confused whenever Makomo spoke about other children looking over his progress, he just assumed that these children were Urokodaki's other students. He wondered if he would be able to meet the other students one day.

There was one day when Makomo introduced Muzan to a technique called Concentrated Breathing that was similar to the breathing techniques Urokodaki had taught them.

"To clarify, Concentrated Breathing is the name of the breathing techniques that we were taught. You've done it before with varying amounts of success when facing Sabito," Makomo said. "You get to obtain the strength of a demon."

"Well, I've been doing it continuously throughout the months. It burned my throat," Muzan complained as he sighed. "I have to breathe in so much air, it's like I'm going to have that for a feast."

"Don't worry, I'm sure someone like you can do it," Makomo replied. "Given the practices that you do everyday, you'll be mastering that in a few months."

Muzan pouted. Those were the words he hated hearing from her. How much longer did he have to practice in order to face Sabito and the rock again?

Scratch that. He _just_ had to slice the rock, he didn't need to fight Sabito. That was just petty of him and he was an adult.

_I should concentrate on the breathing more if I'm going to do anything with the rock. I've been pretty okay on my attacks but I just lack the strength,_ Muzan thought.

"Hey," Muzan looked up at Makomo, she was sitting on top of the rock as Muzan leaned against it. "Aren't you surprised that you're helping out a grownup like me?

There was a long pause as Makomo hummed.

"No, you're just like us," She mused as she looked up into the sky. "Just because you're older than us doesn't mean we don't share a common goal. We were trained to kill demons," Makomo looked down to smile at Muzan. "Right?"

Another pause.

"Hm, right," Muzan whispered as he glanced down at the barren rocky ground. "We're equals."

"And would you consider Sabito an equal?" Makomo asked.

"I'd rather say he's better than me, we're not equals yet," Muzan said as he played around with some pebbles. "I mean, we both respect each other," Muzan made air quotes when he said "respect," as he continued. "But I can't say we both agree that we are at the same level of…"

"Power?" Makomo added.

"Yeah," Muzan confirmed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "He always says he's better than me in every way possible. I don't know whether or not he's doing it on purpose to rile me up. Maybe it's on purpose, but it's honestly pathetic."

"If you truly believe that, then that's up to you," Makomo smiled. "Choose what you would want to believe."

_What?_

Muzan lowered his gaze in confusion. What he wanted to believe? Well, he wanted to believe that Sabito wasn't as much as a jerk as he thought but…

"Alright," Muzan replied hesitantly.

Sabito could just be doing this to tell him how weak he was. Honestly, it was probably was to just rile him up.

"So when do we continue practicing?" He asked.

—|[0o0]|—

"Come at me!"

Muzan charged as he was quickly met with a parry, he quickly turned around as he managed to block a blow that came from the bokken.

Sabito held his position for a moment or two, Muzan frowned as he analyzed his next move.

"You're quite focused, that's better," Sabito praises as he suddenly disconnected from from Muzan's blade and went directly for his head. Muzan ducked as he raised his blade to deflect the blow as he tried to do a quick thrust through Sabito's raised bokken. Sabito calmly stepped back and struck with the intent to win.

Muzan immediately jumped back, he slashed the incoming sword that tried to attack him again. Sabito defended himself by merely raising his bokken, he wasn't even fazed. Muzan projected as much strength into the sword, leaning slightly into his attack as he swore that he heard a crack.

The latter fluidly stepped back, making Muzan nearly fall as Sabito dashed back in. Muzan barely had time to defend himself as he dropped to the ground in order to evade the attack.

_I should've just fell in the first place._

Muzan then got to his knees and swept his leg in order to trip Sabito, he jumped over his leg as Sabito huffed.

"Do you even try to defend yourself?" Sabito asked as Muzan snarled. Muzan got up and ran towards Sabito, raising his blade as Sabito got ready to evade the attack once more. Just like every other strike that he tried to get past Sabito's defense.

Muzan went slightly faster this time, he felt as if he wasn't utilizing his eyesight to its fullest potential. He was just making excuses for his own failures at that point, blaming the enemy for being too fast for him to see when he can clearly see when they'll move. It was just that he was too slow and this time, he won't be slow. He'll know what Sabito does next, he _will_.

Muzan closes his eyes for just a second and took in the darkness, he opened and for one single second–

He saw his arm twitch a bit, his fingers beginning to wrap tightly around the handle. Muzan swung fast, just as Sabito was about to pounce at him. Muzan managed to deflect the incoming attack with ease as he felt something in his heart jump around with joy.

"You're doing quite well," Sabito announced, his back facing Muzan. "But yet you still focus more on offense, rather than defense. Why can't you even do that?"

_Oh, screw you._

"Maybe I can't, what of it?" Muzan spat out as an uneasy feeling started to grow in the back of his head. "Am I lacking in it so much that it's concerning or…?"

"A Demon Slayer must be as equally versed in both offense and defense. If you focus too much on one, you can easily be defeated," Sabito explained. "You have the potential to use defense yet you refuse to do so. Are you even trying to make as much as an effort as you can, or are you trying to make a fool of yourself?"

"I'm not making a fool of myself! I'm trying, alright?" Muzan exclaimed as he glared at that insinuating mask of Sabito's. "I'm trying my best everyday and all I get from this is that I'm weak! I'm stronger than this and I know that!"

"Don't be a fool. You still need to improve on much more than strength," Sabito told him calmly. "Your rage must be smothered, that frustration can not help you with a battle against me or anyone else."

Muzan tried his best to suppress the growl in his throat, raising his blade as he got in position once more.

"My anger has nothing to do with this," Muzan responded.

"Your anger against demons. The anger against the demon who has slain your family and turned your daughter into their kind," Sabito scoffed as he returned the gesture. "Utilize that instead of flailing around like an idiot. Turn that anger into strength, rather than just an emotion you plaster on your face."

Muzan faltered as he took in the advice. Turning his anger into strength? Why hadn't he thought of that sooner? In the midst of his reflection, Sabito took advantage of the distraction and aimed his blade for Muzan's head. Muzan shot Sabito a dirty look as he swiftly deflected the incoming attack and leapt back, ready for another attack.

"So, are you ready?" Sabito asked as he was on the defensive now.

Muzan steeled his determination as he stepped forward and raised his sword.

—|[0o0]|—

It's been four months ever since the fight, yet Sabito and Makomo insisted that Muzan was ready for another rematch.

Muzan wasn't sure. It's been so long and he still didn't feel as strong as he thought he'd be. If he loses this fight, then all this training would be for nothing. All the time that Makomo has wasted on him to grow stronger would be wasted. So he took precautions throughout the last few months in order to train as hard as he could.

He practiced the Concentrated Breathing to the point where his throat went dry and practiced on attacking and defending. He tried his best until he felt he couldn't do anymore, resting for short periods at a time.

That was just some of the training that he put himself through, he accepted help from Makomo who accompanied him to be better. She corrected all of his mistakes, polished flaws and fixed any bad habits he had when fighting.

After all that, Makomo managed to convince Muzan to fight Sabito one more time. It made sense, it's been a year ever since Urokodaki had announced his verdict and left Muzan to slice that gigantic rock. Plus, the Final Selection was also coming up soon. He wouldn't dare miss that.

And here he was, standing across Sabito who unsheathes his blade. The bokken that he used to wield was nowhere to be found, as the familiar glimmering metal of a katana replaced the wooden blade. The danger of fighting Sabito had just now kicked in.

This fight was real. It wasn't practice anymore.

"Are you ready now?" Sabito asked as he got into an offensive stance. "Show me what you can do!"

"Same to you," Muzan replied as he went on the defensive, instead of his usual offensive.

A second passed and everything around Muzan became a blur. At the same time, both swordsmen charged at each other to Sabito's surprise. Muzan changed his stance at the last minute as he struck his blade down, traveling with the blade while exerting all his frustration, anger and strength into that one strike. For a moment, he thought that he had seen the thinnest line form on Sabito's mask. It did form, the line cut the mask in half, red eyes looked down in surprise as kind lavender looked up proudly.

Sabito's mask fell to the ground, his grip loosened on his katana as he sheathed the unused blade. Just like his kitsune mask, he had a scar on his right jaw yet it didn't look unsettling. Unlike the mask's dark eyes with small white pupils that was empty of life, his real eyes were comforting.

"You did exceptionally well," Sabito smiled, the expression that formed on his face looked peaceful. "Use that strength and pave a way through to victory."

Makomo stepped forward, walking past Muzan and then standing next to Sabito. They both wore a mourning yet tranquil smile, looking forlornly at the man.

"Please take care of yourself and Yuki, she'll need it when she wakes up," Makomo waved. "You can win Kibitsuji-san, okay? Beat him for us, will you?" She smiled as the mist was growing, making it hard to see as Muzan squinted. It was weird how he still couldn't see their aura and through this peculiar mist.

After blinking once, the mist had dissipated, leaving Muzan alone in wonder as he was left looking at a cleanly sliced boulder. His eyes widened as he took a step forward to touch the split rock, checking whether or not what he saw was real. It was smooth, the rock was indeed cut.

"How…?" Muzan asked as he couldn't believe it. Where was Sabito? Where was Makomo?

He looked around, only hoping for the best for the two children. Wherever they were, he felt something was accomplished when he had seen the sliced rock. Whatever purpose that the two had when they trained him, it must've been fulfilled. They've done what they needed to do.

—|[0o0]|—

He had only decided to sit down right when Urokodaki had found him, the two men looked at each other incredulously. Muzan blinked twice as he saw the familiar gentle blue aura, he nodded to himself.

"I wasn't intending to allow you to join the Final Selection," Urokodaki finally spoke as he approached Muzan, walking slowly to his pupil. "There were many children who have passed away due to my faults. I was afraid that even you, an adult, could also die. Even though you were older than my previous students, I still couldn't shake that feeling of guilt away. I didn't want to believe that you could slice that rock."

"It's not your fault. I'm sure your students didn't blame you, nor should you blame yourself for their deaths," Muzan said as he stood up, gently carrying his katana. "You're a great teacher. The best I've ever had," He continued, feeling something being lifted from his shoulders.

Urokodaki put a hand on Muzan's shoulder, the action almost made Muzan tear up.

"You've done exceptionally well," Urokodaki said, mimicking the words that Sabito had said to him just a few moments ago. "Muzan, you are a good man. Your daughter is an amazing child, being able to withstand the allure of human meat. Please, you must come back from the Final Selection," Urokodaki patted his shoulder again. "This old man and your daughter will wait right here for you."

Muzan could see how proud he was of him, he wasn't sure whether or not he should hug his teacher. It would've been uncharacteristically nice of him yet…

"Thank you," Muzan whispered as he hesitantly wrapped his arms around Urokodaki. This feeling of pride, this sense of accomplishment made him feel so bright inside. The months of training weren't for nothing, it was worth it. "Thank you so much."

_Use that strength and pave a way through victory, _Sabito's words echoed through his mind as Muzan felt Urokodaki hug him back.

_I will._

—|[0o0]|—

He never thought he'd see the day where the descendants of that accursed family still lived. He made sure that he had exterminated them, that every one of them was dead.

Although… he did smell something out of the ordinary when he had just left the household, perhaps a family member? The smell was heavy with sadness, it still lingered and he could smell the scent of blood.

There were two scents that seemed to appear when he was wandering the area. One was the sad scent, mixed with desperation while the other was one of pain. So there were possibly two living members still alive.

"How annoying," He whispered to himself as he turned his back on the findings. What he had found out what nothing more than a mere nuisance, that's all. Those two wouldn't be able to run away for long. Their scent was rare but he let every demon take notice of this. They'll be dead in a heartbeat.

He made a promise to himself and her after all.

His promise: to find the family with Ubuyashiki blood.

—|[0o0]|—

**Notes:** No definitions? Guess I'll do more next time. I'm sorry for the late update! I was busy drawing the cover for the fic, I'll be posting the picture by next week or the next.

Another thing! I might be writing the next chapter in Yuki's POV from what she experiences from Chapter 1 through Chapter 4, it should help establish her character more and what her relationship is between her and the rest of her family. I hope you guys don't mind. Honestly, I might go ahead and continue Muzan's story and then do Yuki's POV after the Final Selection. I'll see.

Anyways, thank you for reading and have a good day/night!


	5. Chapter 5: Sight

**Notes:** Sorry for the late update! I was getting a bit carried away with this chapter, I hope you all didn't mind. I've also been going through a lot of tests in my school life, that's another reason why this chapter came out late. Anyways, happy reading!

—|[0o0]|—

"Stupid mountain, stupid steps," Muzan growled as he walked up the stairs to the location where the Final Selection will take place. It was just a few days after he had finally sliced the boulder in half, but now he's about to fight in order to survive. Urokodaki had said that many of his students had passed away due to this challenge.

Considering the circumstances, he had been training for two years now. That was certainly more than enough time to train and get through this trial.

When Muzan finally got to the top of Mount Fujikasaneyama, the name of the mountain, he didn't expect to see plenty of wisteria flowers to be surrounding the mountain's red gate. As he walked towards where the rest of the applicants were, he was intrigued by the surplus amount of the flowers surrounding them.

_They don't even bloom at this time of the year. _Muzan thought as he fixed his kitsune mask that hung on the left side of his head. Urokodaki has made a mask for him that would prevent bad luck and gave him a jinbei* kimono that was patterned just like his. Muzan liked to think of it as a farewell gift as a testament to his training.

Urokodaki has also gave Muzan something that was akin to a katana but was made from a peculiar property that could kill demons. It was called a Nichirin blade, used by Demon Slayers alike.

As Muzan finished fixing everything, he looked on ahead and was shocked to see children standing around him. What were these children doing here, in a dangerous place like this? Wasn't there any other adults here to tell them to leave?

He looked around, only to be met with strange stares that came from kids. They all had Nichirin blades that were sheathed in their saya, their whole demeanor was defensive.

Was he the only adult here?

He bit his lip as he suddenly saw two young girls, perhaps around Yuki's age, stand in front of the applicants while holding lanterns. One had black hair while the other had pure white. Their orange glow illuminated the night as the two girls smiled eerily.

"Greetings and thank you for participating in the Final Selection tonight," Black-haired girl said as she smiled. "There are demons that were captured by Demon Slayers that are held captive in this mountain."

"This is due to the abundance of wisteria flowers that cover every inch of this mountain, making it impossible for demons to leave," White-haired girl continued on as both girls stepped aside, raising the stick of their lanterns high up.

"Although from here on out, you are no longer protected. Demons will roam this mountain freely, they will kill," Both girls said in unison. "If you are able to survive within seven days then you pass the Final Selection."

Muzan heard the rough shuffling of people running away from the girls, the action confusing him as he continued to listen to the girls as he slowly turned around.

"The Final Selection has begun."

Muzan nodded to himself as he ran. He ran until he couldn't even see the wisteria flowers anymore, the other kids weren't around either when Muzan had stopped running.

He sighed. He had to survive a week in order to pass? That amount of time wasn't bad, he was sure Urokodaki would be able to take care of Yuki during that timespan. Maybe Yuki would be able to wake up? He shouldn't jinx it, something bad always happens when he does.

Muzan looked at his surroundings, there were tall trees that stood straight everywhere. They were colored orange, yellow, brown and red. Their leaves decorated the ground as they fell, looking grim.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, he caught sight of a bleak aura of something inhuman. It was grayish-green, hidden in the dark. Muzan stood his ground, silently unsheathing his blade as he awaited a sudden section. Out of the corner of his eye, he managed to see another aura standing next to the grayish-green one. This new one was a muddy brown, Muzan stifled a growl.

He hadn't fought two demons at the same time before, plus the last time he'd ever fought a demon was the at the base of Mount Sagiri. That demon wasn't even killed by him.

He kept his gaze steady as he saw one of the auras' dug one of their feet into the ground. Muzan jumped back, sweeping his blade across the air, hearing the disgusting sound of blood being spilt as he heard a guttural roar.

"What?! It's an adult?" An angered voice cried out as Muzan looked up to see demon with two horns with their tongues hanging out. "Their flesh tastes horrible!"

"What do you mean? It's still flesh, it's food!" The other demon exclaimed as he stepped into Muzan's view. "If you're not taking him, I will!" They started to approach Muzan, their elongated nails motioning towards him.

"Now that you've said that, I want him now!"

Muzan grit his teeth as took a deep steady breath, raising his blade as he rushed forward to the demons who were pouncing right at him. He twisted around, his feet leaping off the ground as he felt the warmth of his blade grow stronger as he kept breathing. He let his katana slice right through both demons' necks, it was a clean slice as he hadn't heard the sickening crack of the spine like last time. He saw the dissipating waves of water that had formed when swinging his blade, using the _Third Form: Flowing Dance_, as he saw the heads falling to the ground.

The form was one of his most difficult techniques to master, yet he still managed to push through the delicate fluid steps needed to perform it.

Muzan turned around as he was unsure whether or not they'd still be alive, he was met with bodies disintegrating into dust then nothing. He looked at the spot of where the demons stood in wonder, he just took down two demons in one fell swoop. So there _was_ a reason why he wasn't able to defeat that demon from two years prior, he didn't have this specific blade to kill it. Now that he thought about it, trying to kill a demon with a shovel wasn't a good idea at all.

Muzan sheathed his blade for the time being, turning his back at the victory as he ran off. He couldn't be satisfied with just one win after all, he just needed to survive. There was no need to throw himself into battles he didn't need to fight yet.

There was still more to this challenge, he knew it.

—|[0o0]|—

He was worried, worried for Urokodaki and Yuki, back at Mount Sagiri. He knew that demons had never roamed up to Urokodaki's residence, but what if the demon that killed his family goes there and…

Muzan shook his head. No, he had to stay positive. He couldn't let that idea get into his mind or else all he'll be thinking about is that demon. If he does keep doing this, he'll surely die in this Final Selection. He wondered on what happened to the rest of the kids that entered in this selection. They would be fine, right? After all, they seemed to be trained by other proctors as well.

Muzan looked around him, the same image of limber and tall trees stood in front of him. It made him feel sick to the stomach, it was as if he were going in circles over and over again. He'd been going east so far, feeling as if it were the right way to go. His instincts were horrible, maybe he should go another way. Something in his mind just wants him to continue east but…

He slapped himself across the face. He didn't have time for this, nor the luxury to just stand around and do nothing. If Urokodaki or Sabito was here, they'd surely yell at him to no ends for being hesitant, even on something like this.

"There's a time for everything, but just not now," Muzan said to himself as he hovered his hand over the handle of his katana. He had been utilizing his eyesight to the fullest for two days, his reaction time has been improving as well. The muscle movements, the slightest of movements and what they'd do next, he knew when they'll attack. Too bad he didn't know all of this when he actually needed it two years ago.

Muzan sighed as he continued on, until he saw an aura. He froze.

This aura was one of anger, it was practically screaming to go find them. It was colored a dark purple, which was strange considering red would've best fit whoever the aura belonged to.

This person was hidden behind a couple of trees that were a couple of feet of Muzan's vision. They seemed to be hunched over, picking something up. The first thing that came to his mind was that the person was actually a demon, but should he be so quick to judge when he doesn't actually know yet? From what he currently knows, demons have a somewhat dirty colored aura that differentiated them from humans. This information might easily be changed if he sees a demon with orange or blue.

He decided to take a deep breath as he approached the figure, silently unsheathing his blade as he mentally prepared himself.

He peered over the trunk of the tree as he was ready to dodge a possible attack, only to be met with a katana. Muzan slashed the incoming blade as he hopped back, defensive as he looked up to see a boy with a large scar on his right cheek to his nose.

"What the hell?" The boy looked astonished as he saw Muzan staring back down at him. Muzan noticed blood trickling down from his mouth to his chin. "How did you find me?!"

"I just saw someone on the ground," Muzan answered as he still didn't take his eyes off the blood on his mouth. "Are you alright?" He asked, lowering his katana.

"I don't need your damned help! I'm fine on my own!" The boy snarled as he roughly turned around, wiping the blood with the sleeve of his shirt. He wore a sleeveless purple haori with a black long sleeved shirt, donning a buzz cut on the left side of his head and his hair was a mess.

"I was just asking," Muzan replied. "What happened to you? Maybe I can help out if you'd like?"

"I said I'm fine!" The boy retaliated. "Mind your business!"

Muzan shrugged as he stopped, seeing limp arm being pushed by the boy's leg behind the tree. He flicked his blade on the floor.

"What's that arm doing there?"

"What the hell are you talking about now?! Just let me do my own thing!" The boy dismissed the comment as he waved his arm. "Just leave! I don't get why even some old man has to get his ass into my life!"

"Old man?!" Muzan exclaimed as a sudden rush of shock and anger went through his head. "What's your name, kid?"

"Like hell I'm going to tell you!"

"Likewise! What the hell is that arm doing there? Is it from a demon or?" Muzan kept going as he jabbed a finger in front of the boy. "Why would you be leaving that thing around?"

"Get out!"

"Fine!"

—|[0o0]|—

His name was Genya Shinazugawa.

It took both of them nearly an hour of yelling at each other to find out what their names were.

Through this new discovery, the two managed to come to a decent understanding of one another. Genya wanted to become a Demon Slayer because he wanted to prove himself to his brother, who was also a Demon Slayer. It was an honorable reason, to be like the person you admire.

The two managed to find a river that had fish that resided in the streams during the morning, resting and eating for a bit until the two face another battle during the night. And it was just the second day.

"So, are you ever going to explain why you had that arm?" Muzan asked, Genya snarled as he continued to eat his cooked fish. "Okay…"

To be with another applicant was certainly an accomplishment, Muzan hadn't seen any other people ever since the first day. Maybe it was that Mount Fujikasaneyama was far larger than he imagined it to be. There were around twenty applicants, so it'd make sense.

"How did you see me?" Genya abruptly asked as he finished his meal and started to cook another fish over their campfire. "I was far ahead and I didn't even see you until the last minute," His tone was accusatory, his eyes gleamed in suspicion.

"Oh, I'm just born with pretty great eyesight," Muzan simply replied as he was met with those eyes of Genya's again. "Okay okay, I'm somehow able to see the slightest of muscles move and I can see auras of people. Whether or not they are in front of me, I can see it. There's a lot of colors I have to see everyday," Muzan explained as he bit into his steaming meal. He stuck out his tongue, it burned.

"So you saw my aura?" The other looked a bit confused. "Even in the dark?"

"Yeah, it comes in handy during a situation like that. I can find people pretty well," Muzan nodded. "Now that I think about it, I could've easily spot any demons that would try to approach me…"

"You can sense demons too?" Genya looked down at the ground, taking his fish off the fire.

"Yeah, their aura is usually a dull or some dirty color. Brown, gray, greenish-gray or anything like that. Humans have brighter colors, they're a lot easier to spot rather than demons but I'm quick enough to identify which is which," Muzan answered, he smiled a bit. He never really told anyone about this ability other than Urokodaki and his family. It's been such a long time ever since he talked about it.

"Hm," Genya hummed as he consumed another fish. "So basically you can see anything."

"Not anything, I can't see the auras of any non-living things. It's like eating something that's non-edible," Muzan finished his fish, throwing the skeleton away onto the dirt. "It's confusing to fully explain it."

"I get it," Genya replied unexpectedly calm. "It's like eating meat and you get to taste the flavor, but with rocks, you can't taste shit," He then proceeded to scarf down another fish.

Muzan felt as if he was going to do a double-take. This kid just ate three fish and isn't stopping, he might even eat five at this rate. The last time he's seen someone this hungry was nearly a dozen or more years ago when his wife, Rei, was pregnant and ate nearly a pound of fried soba noodles. Not even he could hold a candle to her voracious appetite during the time.

"Aren't you gonna eat the rest of that?"

"No, how long have you not eaten?" Muzan asked as he gave the remainder of his caught fish to Genya. "It's as if you haven't eaten in days."

"I just eat for the sake of eating, now mind your damn business old man!" Genya exclaimed.

"Keep calling me old man and I'll throw these fish back into the river!" Muzan threatened as he raised a finger at his companion. "Do you have no manners?"

"Wouldn't you like to know," Genya states as he frowns. "Whatever shit you say next, I'm gonna ignore it."

Muzan sighed heavily to himself as he crossed his arms. Five more days until the end, that's a long time. How was he supposed to survive on just fish? He should've learned how to forage for fruits and other plants other than just fishing. Should he also focus on finding other applicants? Maybe they'd be strong enough to fend for themselves?

"Genya, have you seen any other applicants roaming around?" Muzan asked as he waited for Genya to finish eating.

"No, you're the first guy I've seen," Genya replied as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "Besides, lots of people die during this thing. They were probably weak anyways."

"What if we went to look for them?" Muzan offered as Genya shook his head profusely. "Why not? We can help them out, then they can pass the exam."

"Then I'd be giving my life up to them, like hell I'm going to do that," Genya replied. "There's no such thing as quitting the selection and then applying again. If it did, then there'd be a bunch of weak Demon Slayers entering the program. They'd die if they meet with demons in the real world."

Muzan thought about the boy's words for a long moment, they were cruel but they were indeed true. If they couldn't fight for themselves here, then they surely wouldn't be able to fight with demons outside of this mountain. The only thing that he could do now was to stick with himself and…

"Then can I help you out?"

"What?!" Genya was surprised. "You're out of your damn mind if you think I'm letting you take all the glory! I'm getting outta here!"

"Hold on! Trust me, I've got my weird eye abilities and I can help you see where demons are hiding. If you want to kill demons just for the sake of it, I won't judge you but you can't just rush in blindly," Muzan quickly explained, waving his arms around when saying so. "I can also help to defend you, all I ask in return is that you help defend me when I need it too. I understand it's a lot of me to ask but…"

"Shut up! You talk so much, man, it's annoying," Genya growled. "Fine! But the first demon you spot, I kill it!"

Muzan felt hopeful for the very first time ever since he stepped foot on this mountain. He knew he should focus on his own survival, but it just felt right to help out someone else who might need it too.

Either that or his fatherly instincts.

—|[0o0]|—

It's been nearly five days ever since Muzan had met Genya, traveling together to defeat the demons that resided in the mountain.

When they first set out, Muzan had suggested that they continue to go east. Genya reluctantly agreed as he had been just running in whatever direction ever since the first day. The two hadn't been able to meet any living applicants throughout their journey, but they have met with the corpses of their untimely deaths. They were just children, they were too young for something like this.

Muzan tried to block out the ghastly sight, looking away as he couldn't take the dead blank eyes that stared back at him. It reminded him of that dreadful night, a night drenched in blood.

He shook his head. He couldn't let the memories of his past haunt him, not now at least.

Genya wielded his blade eloquently yet his attacks were wild, it was as if he attacked like a hurricane. Anytime that Muzan alerted him that there was a demon nearby, he'd always ask where and then eliminate them. To be honest, Muzan was pretty terrified by how bloodthirsty Genya was. He has never met anyone so brutal when it came to demons and for the boy to go fight alone, it truly frightened him. But after a day or two of continuous attacks against demons, Muzan's gotten used to it. Both take turns slaying demons whenever one notices one nearby.

He just had to admit how ecstatic Genya was, it was admirable to some right but he wasn't really sure at this point. The young boy reminded him greatly of Ryouichi, their passion for their specific something resemble one another's.

"Genya, there's a demon a few feet right from me," Muzan instructed as he silently pointed with his katana where the demon was. "It seems to be picking something apart, maybe a body. You should be careful of this one t…"

"Alright, I'm not stupid," Genya bluntly replied as he readied his blade and started walking silently towards the direction of the demon. "I'm not gonna fucking die."

"I'm just saying," Muzan said in an exasperated tone. "Just take care of yourself."

He wondered who was Genya's proctor, whoever it was, they must've had the patience of a saint. He wouldn't have believed it if Urokodaki had taught this kid, he would've harshly discipline Genya due to his foul mouth. The idea would've made him laugh, imagining Genya being lectured by Urokodaki while trying to train. He thought of what would've happened if he, himself, had never met Urokodaki and just continued living as a pitiful guilt-ridden man. He'd most likely stop caring about everything altogether.

Muzan looked at the empty space where Genya was, he left for the demon. He'd usually just stand around, keeping a lookout for potential demons that might attack him at any moment.

Just for a moment, he thought he saw something moving in the forest. He blinked, looking closer to where that moving thing was and saw a bright orange aura that was standing next to a flickering dull red. Muzan took a step forward, unsure what to do. He'd never seen a flickering aura, nor had he seen anyone with those colors before. He had to help them.

But Genya…

"Oi! What are you doing?!"

Muzan turned around to see Genya running back towards him, his katana drenched in blood as he had something bloody held in his hands. Muzan shook his head as he turned back and started to run.

"There are other people nearby!" Muzan explained as he ran towards the direction of where the applicants were, Genya rolled his eyes but didn't stop Muzan as the two ran through the forest.

As Muzan got closer, the stench of blood was the only thing that he could smell. It was disgusting.

He readied his sword, his hands wrapping themselves around the hilt, inhaling and exhaling sharply as he got ready to attack. As he got closer, he saw an abomination of an aura that belonged to a ginormous, pale greenish-yellow skinned pile of hands. There was a head hidden in the middle of all those hands and it was holding an applicant in one of his hands, about to crush their body. The other applicant was nowhere to be found.

_Second Form: Water Surface Slash_, Muzan used the technique as he leapt forward, moving his blade in a circular direction as he created a violent wheel of water that sliced off the hand that had captured the applicant. He roughly landed on his feet, quickly picking up the fallen applicant and made him stand behind him.

Muzan looked at the demon as he realized how big they actually were. The demon took up nearly a few yards of this forest, their hands were protecting the head of the demon as it must've been hard to slice his head off. Even he couldn't count how many hands they had.

"Genya, take the kid to safety! I'll take care of this one!" Muzan declared as Genya looked a bit hesitant before nodding, running back to the direction that they came from with the injured kid. Muzan looked up at the demon, trying his best to not be intimidated by the staggering size of it. He stood his ground as he readied himself once more, focusing on the numerous amount of hands and when they'd attack.

Muzan jumped up just as he saw the arms twitch, the arms shot down onto the ground as he twisted his body around and tried attacking the head that resided within the flesh. He did a quick swipe just as a hand appeared and tried to slap him away like a fly, he fell down to the ground while bracing for the impact.

If he weren't a second faster, he'd surely be eaten by them. Thank goodness for those years of training.

Muzan looked down at the ground as he saw the freshly cut fingers that tried to kill him and the arm he cut from earlier. They weren't turning to dust like the other demons he fought. He looked at the demon's arm but was met with shock as they regrew their arm. Their arm used to be normal, but now they had three extra yet smaller hands beginning to grow out of it. The demon managed to express a look of glee through his arms, his amber eyes darted around crazily.

Great, now Muzan had to worry about their regeneration as well. Just great.

"That kitsune mask of yours… haha! It seems that Urokodaki has sent a fox once more!" The demon cackled as his eyes curved into crescents. "And an adult one no less! Why you're the first grown fox that I've ever encountered! I was wondering why Urokodaki was taking so long on teaching students, I guess it was just because you were older!" His arms weren't targeting Muzan anymore, the adult silently sighed in relief.

"What the…? Who are you!? How do you know his name?" Muzan shouted, he tried his best to sound stern but his voice nearly cracked at the end. The demon seemed to be snarling as Muzan raised his blade.

"Tch! I knew him because he was the person who jailed me in this damned mountain!" The demon exclaimed as his fists were pounding the ground in anger, the earth was shaking as Muzan tried his best to stay in balance. "Tell me, fox, what year of the Meiji Era is it?" The demon sneered as the pounding had stopped, his arms were now hovering over the destruction.

"I...It's the Taisho Period, the Meiji Era passed a long time ago," Muzan hesitantly replied. "You must've been here for a while, huh?"

"_DAMN IT!_ Too long! Far too long! I've been stuck in this prison for who knows how long!" The demon screamed as he slammed the earth once more. "Damn him! Damn Urokodaki! I won't forget those forty-seven years ago! I won't forget the day he trapped me here!"

"That'd be during the Edo Period… then you've been in this mountain and no one has killed you?" Muzan asked as his rage started to slowly rise. "How are you still alive!? After all these years, someone had to kill you at some point!" Muzan started to feel something crawl behind his back, his hands were starting to tremble. He had to keep calm, or else he'll end up demon fodder.

"Ah yes, but I'm still alive. Urokodaki has been sending his students to this very mountain ever since he had dumped me in here. And I've eaten every single one of them!" The demon seemed to be pleased with himself, even giggling like a maniac while saying so. "All thirteen of them and more who were participating in this mountain challenge! All within this prison of wisterias!" He waved his arms around the space to exaggerate as he cackled. "And I'll eat you next when I rip your limbs apart! You'll be the prized meal!"

"What?" Muzan whispered rather harshly as he caught on. His rage reached its melting point as he started to breathe rapidly, painfully gripping the hilt of his blade as his hands turned white. So this was the bastard who had killed Urokodaki's students, he ate and relished them, he was an utter disgrace.

That's when he also realized both Sabito and Makomo died because of the demon. Muzan didn't know how he was able to see the two children, but they helped him train to this point. They told him to defeat a certain someone, to use his anger as his strength.

He knew them. He knew those two, even if it were only for a few months. That gave him enough reason to kill this demon brutally.

"You have one of those kitsune masks, so you must've known how easy it was to identify his students. Hm, there were two of his students who've left a deep impression on me, there was a boy with pink hair who was the s…"

"Shut your mouth before I kill you," Muzan said as he leapt forward, rapidly slashing his blade at the demon's arms as they all were just defending the head. Muzan surged through, a hand attempted to slap him off his course but Muzan hacked the hand and flipped himself over the obstacle, landing on one of their outstretched arms.

Muzan took a quick glance at the sliced limbs and growled, the arms grew back quickly as the demon took notice and giggled insanely.

"You're quick, but not as quick as that flower girl that I've eaten in the past!" The demon said as he shot an arm towards Muzan who was shocked by the mention of Makomo.

Muzan slashed at the arm as he breathed in and out rapidly, this wasn't right. The demon was messing with him.

He tried to run down the arm to where the head was located, swinging his blade down at where the neck would be as he was grabbed by the leg unexpectedly and thrown into a tree. His head hit the trunk as he cried in pain, he heard his ceramic kitsune mask break into pieces as he felt one of the shards poke his cheek.

He saw something approaching him, but he couldn't keep up as the pain flared up.

"Old man!" Genya's voice rang out through the area, seemingly close to Muzan.

Muzan opened his eyes, looking at the incoming arms that were about to grab him and tear him apart. He bit his lip as his dazed mind told him what to do: he grabbed his sword as he forced himself to cut through the limbs once more. The pain in his head hurt a lot but he had to push through this in order to kill this demon.

He looked straight at the monstrosity as he charged forward once more, but with a twist. He took numerous long deep breaths, leaping up whenever an arm or hand tried to assault him. He ran through the obstacles as he felt the lost strength flow through him again, his feet were advancing as waves started to form from his blade. The demon, at this point, had sent out all his arms towards Muzan as he had evaded them all.

Muzan could see their eyes widen and shined in fear, he gave the demon a fierce look as he swung the blade in an arc directly at its neck. The _First Form: Water Surface Slash,_ managed to cleanly and fluidly slice the head off. The arms that had pursued Muzan had now grown limp, to his relief.

He did it.

—|[0o0]|—

"Are you an idiot!? You could've died if I didn't call you out!" Genya angrily expressed himself as he approached Muzan.

"It's my fault, I'm sorry," Muzan mumbles, trying his best to express his gratitude. It had been such a draining fight, the hit that the demon did to him hurt him made his head start bleeding.

"N… Nii…"

Muzan sharply turned around, locating the source of the sound as he finally looked at the outstretched hand that was directed towards him. He then looked at the head that was starting to… cry?

"_Nii-chan…_"

Was the demon crying out to their brother? It's as if they were asking to hold hands, that was what Ryouichi would do whenever he was scared. Muzan felt a pang of remorse and pity as he gently wrapped his hands around the demon… no, the person's hand as the latter returned the gesture.

"I'm sorry that you've become a demon," Muzan murmured in a saddened tone, trying to speak the right words. "I wish the best for you and your brother," He said with finality, slowly letting go as the hand crumbled to dust.

"You didn't have to do that," Genya abruptly said as Muzan tiredly shrugged.

"Demons used to be humans, they can't die until we kill them," Muzan replied. "They deserve a farewell, but I still can't forgive him for killing them."

Genya grunts as he crossed his arms, turning around as Muzan followed. Muzan stopped for a moment as if he were remembering something.

"Oh Genya, thank you for bringing me back to my senses," Muzan exclaimed, sheathing his katana as Genya seemed to hesitate for a moment. "And helping the applicant, we managed to save someone."

"Yeah yeah," Genya managed as he continued walking on. "The guy ran away the moment he saw you get hit. What a piece of shit, scared of something like that."

"Anyone would've been scared of that, it's just that were caught in the moment. Imagine facing a demon that wasn't supposed to be here," Muzan explained as he gave Genya a small smile, catching up to the boy's speed.

Genya, to his confusion, looked at Muzan curiously as the two continued walking east.

—|[0o0]|—

The seven days had finally passed.

Both Muzan and Genya were able to retrace their steps to the place where all the applicants had started as they were met with the two girls who congratulated them for surviving.

Overall, only four applicants had survived which confused Muzan. There were more than twenty applicants during the start, but then sixteen of them were killed during the selection. The person that they've saved didn't manage to make it? Muzan bit his lip as he looked at the remaining survivors.

There was a girl and a boy. The girl had a single side ponytail that was tied in a butterfly-themed bow, she donned a light pink yukata. She seemed to have a bright pink aura that seemed to be brimming with power. The boy had choppy short yellow hair that seemed to fade into a dark orange at the ends, he wore a yukata that was in a yellow and orange gradient with a white-triangle pattern. He seemed to have a bright yellow aura that seemed peculiar, Muzan sensed something was odd about it but shrugged it off.

"I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die," The yellow haired boy repeated to himself as he hugged his sheathed blade tightly to himself.

Muzan raised a brow in concern as Genya walked towards the girls.

"When do we get the Nichirin blade?"

The two girls went into explanation about paying for a uniform first and getting measurements done, then they were able to pick a chunk of tamahagane* alloy that will be used to forge their own personal blade. They also explained how the surviving applicants are now the lowest rank in the Demon Slayer Corps, the tenth rank.

"You will be given kasugaigarasu that will alert you of any missions that were assigned to," The girls clapped their hands together as Muzan saw three black crows fly down from the skies and onto their designated owners, he then looked puzzled as he saw a small sparrow land on the yellow haired boy's head.

Muzan looked at the crow that landed on his shoulder as the bird looked back at him. So they were used for communication? He then curiously patted the crow's head who responded with a sour look. Well, somehow.

"I don't care about some stupid bird!" Genya exclaimed as he threw his arm down, his crow flying away in alarm. He then advanced towards the white haired girl, raising his hand. "Give me the Nichirin blade!"

Muzan grabbed Genya's extended arm, stopping whatever he was going to do to the girl.

"Just wait a moment, you know better than to hit someone," Muzan ordered as he put a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Be patient."

Genya seemed persistent in his goal as he tried to advance for a few more minutes, but faltered as Muzan kept his grip strong.

"Are you finished?" The black haired girl asked as she looked towards Muzan and Genya. "If so, please come over here to pick an alloy that will be used to make your personal blade please."

The applicants walked up to a table that had numerous chunks of metal that were colored in a crimson luster, it'd almost look like copper until one could see the metal under the sunlight.

Muzan looked at the others, unsure of which alloy to choose as he tried looking at the metals. Do they have differences that cause an advantage or disadvantage? Are they all the same?

Muzan stepped forward, analyzing the metals as he quickly saw one that caught his eye. He reached over and grabbed it, nodding to finalize his choice and walked back to his spot. The alloy he chose had a brighter shade of red than the others, he guessed it was the slightly odd one out.

He looked on as the rest slowly chose their own alloy, the choice seemed to matter a lot to them as they took their time.

He waited and waited as he looked at the two girls who hosted the entire challenge. They seemed so familiar, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

Muzan sighed as he looked down at the metal.

He wondered what kind of blade it'd be.

—|[0o0]|—

**Definitions: **

Jinbei: A type of kimono that is usually worn by men and children while at home. It can typically substitute for a yukata.

Tamahagane: A type of steel that is commonly used to make katanas, knives, and other kinds of items.

—|[0o0]|—

**Notes:** Once again, I'm sorry for the rather late update. I'm afraid this late schedule might continue because I'm close to my mid-terms and I have to focus a bit more on my studies. Thank you for your patience! Have a good day/night!


	6. Chapter 6: Change

"Hey, old man."

"What is it?" Muzan looked at Genya who was scowling the entire time when the two were walking down the mountain. The other two participants were in front of them, silent as they went down the steps.

"Is your head… still bleeding?" Genya asked as he still bore an angered expression, even after the selection. The boy tightened his grip on his sheathed katana, awaiting a response.

"It's alright, the girls gave me some bandages and ointments," Muzan replied as he gently touched the bandages that were wrapped around his head. "At least I don't have a concussion, that'd be horrible."

"Mm," Genya grunted as the four continued walking silently.

When they all reached the bottom, they all left without a word. All but Muzan and Genya who looked at each other hesitantly, fidgeting about.

"So I guess this is goodbye," Muzan said as he extended a hand towards Genya who looked down at it as if it were a dead rat. "Hey, it's probably going to be a long time until we get to see each other again," Muzan managed a small smile.

"Tch, fine. But that doesn't mean I'm gonna try to find you," Genya spat out quite quickly, shaking Muzan's hand roughly. "I'm gonna make sure you never see me again. You're pretty annoying old man."

"As I said throughout the week, I'm not an old man," Muzan growled through his smile. "I'm thirty-four. I'm still young."

"You literally have bags under your eyes that make you three times older than you think you are, pale skin and shit," Genya bluntly replied, this time with a faint smirk tugging at his lips. "Don't die like before."

"You too," Muzan gave the boy's hand a shake and waved goodbye as he started to walk away. "See you!"

"In your dreams!" Genya shouted as Muzan sword he heard something in the boy's voice crack. Muzan smiles proudly to both himself and Genya, feeling something bright shine within him. There were many ways to respond back to him, and Genya responded as brashly and boldly as he expected him to.

Muzan chuckled under his breath as he walked back in the path towards Urokodaki's house in Mount Sagiri. The morning sun was shining down on him, sending down rays of warmth that rolled off his face.

He couldn't wait to tell Yuki and Urokodaki all about his new companion. Mentioning Yuki, Muzan wondered whether or not she would be awake. He hoped she was, she had gone to sleep for a year and a half.

_Dear god…_

Muzan trudged on as he looked up at the sky.

_Please save my daughter, please._

—|[0o0]|—

"Hah…"

Muzan panted as he leaned on the trunk of a tree, nearly sliding down onto the ground as he propped his blade next to him. He was so close, the house was just a few yards away but he was too fatigued to even take a step forward.

He drew a ragged breath as he grit his teeth, pushing himself off the trunk and gripping his blade. He ignored the pain as he continued walking forward, he was so close.

The sun was starting to set, the sky had turned a bright violet as the usual light blue faded. Muzan growled as he continued to push himself forwards, the house was just there. If only he could…

_THWACK!_

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Urokodaki's door had just been forcefully kicked into the thickets from the inside. Muzan gaped as he came to a stand still, his hand was just hovering over the hilt of his katana as he feared for the worst.

_What the_…_?_ Muzan thought as he then saw a figure with a bamboo stick attached around their mouth, donning a lavender yukata and plum haori turn their way towards Muzan's direction. Her long messy brown hair blew behind her as her cat-like eyes widened in joy.

"Mmh!"

He blinked. Was this real? Was this actually real? Muzan rubbed his eyes as he tried to reconfirm whether or not what he was seeing was real.

Looking at her again, their eyes met as Yuki rushed towards her father's side as Muzan dropped his sword onto the ground.

It was real. It really was real.

Muzan frantically ran towards Yuki as he scooped his daughter into his arms, twirling her around as he felt the tears start to stream down his face. Yuki let out a happy sound as she appeared to be smiling, hugging her father tightly when he let her down on to the ground. Muzan returned the favor as he ran his fingers through her hair, Yuki hummed a cheerful tune as she buried her head in her father's shoulder.

"You're awake! Yuki!" Muzan cries out as he felt so warm, something within him. "You made me worry so much! I thought you were gone! I thought you were…!" Muzan stifled a sob as he heard his voice crack.

"Hm?"

"You slept for so long that I thought you were dead! I prayed everyday that you would wake up again!" Muzan exclaimed as he started to hiccup furiously. "Don't ever do that again!"

Just as Muzan was going to let go of Yuki and wipe his tears away, he felt another pair of arms wrap themselves around the two. He looked up as he saw the familiar tengu mask look down at him. Even if he wasn't able to see through the mask, he was sure that Urokodaki was crying as well.

"You came back!"

"I did," Muzan managed as he held onto the embrace a bit longer. He had never felt this happy ever since that day, that awful day.

He wanted to forget all about that, forget the blood, the deaths, the heartache… so much rage. That demon who killed them…

But now wasn't the time to lament. It was time for him to hope and enjoy the moment.

"Thank the gods…"

_Thank you..._

—|[0o0]|—

"It's been years since someone managed to pass the Final Selection. I'm just glad that you are still alive," Urokodaki said as Muzan poured himself a cup of tea.

"Me too, there was a demon that nearly killed me if it weren't for a kid I met. He snapped me back to my senses," Muzan replied happily as he took a sip from the cup. "His name was Genya, a bit angry at times but a genuinely nice boy," He then looked at Yuki, she seemed to be playing with some clay toy figurines that Urokodaki made.

Muzan smiles as he ruffled Yuki's hair, she responded with a smile as she handed Muzan one of the toys.

"So how many applicants survived this year?" Urokodaki asked as Muzan gave him a grim expression. "Not many?"

"Only four people lived through the test. There were twenty or more people who entered," Muzan bit his lip as he gulped down his tea, setting down his cup onto a table rather loudly. "Plus, what's the deal with so many children? I was the only adult there," Muzan complained as he half-heartedly started to play with Yuki.

"Many Demon Slayers start out as children, there's one as young as your daughter. Trust me when I say this," Urokodaki said as he let out a disappointed sigh. "Demons leave many children orphaned, killing their families. They use this as a powerful motive to become a Demon Slayer, although this could potentially kill them."

Muzan grew silent as he put down the toy, as he thought of all those lives lost during the Final Selection. They were all so young, too young to venture into a world stained with blood and death. They didn't deserve to die, they didn't need to raise their blades up against a monster they've never truly fought before. Those kids would never live a life of someone normal, a life where they could find peace. Maybe they already found peace in the heavens above, who knows?

"Did you ever tell your pupils to give up? Live a normal life?" Muzan asked. "Or a life without bloodshed?"

"I always did. I may have been extreme when it came to such decisions, but all of my students refused it when it came up," Urokodaki replied with sorrow. "Just like you. You could have just continued on with your life, living with your head held high but you insisted on getting revenge."

"I guess you're right," Muzan mumbles as Yuki tugged at his low ponytail, making Muzan wince a bit. "Yuki, please stop that. Dad has to talk."

"Mm…" Yuki whines as she tugged a bit harder, Muzan yelped as he nearly fell on his back. He's been noticing that Yuki has been growing stronger ever since she's awakened, being able to kick a door off its hinges and into the woods. It was genuinely terrifying as Muzan tried his best to stop Yuki from doing such rash actions.

"If she keeps this up, she might tear some hair off your scalp," Urokodaki mentioned as Muzan glared at his mentor.

"Yuki! Please stop it this instant!" Muzan ordered as Yuki finally gave up and let her grip on his hair loose. "What did you need? You could just tell me rather than doing what you did," Muzan clarified as his daughter pointed towards the front door.

Muzan raised a brow as he stood up and walked up to the newly installed slide-in door, unsure what Yuki was trying to get at. He then slid it open, stepping outside for the first time in a while. It's been two weeks ever since the Final Selection ended, Muzan was bedridden with fatigue for days until he was able to sit up properly.

_Cling…_

He snapped back to attention as he heard the sounds of wind chimes echo through the area, looking around until he saw a figure with a peculiar hat walking towards him. Muzan saw that this figure was wearing a sunflower-patterned robe that went down to his knees, a woven hat with numerous wind chimes that were decorated with floral patterns, and carried some sort of large container that was slung across their back. Muzan was curious as he saw that their aura was a hazel-like color. Chestnut?

As the mysterious person got closer, Muzan suddenly felt something slap him in the face as he realized who this person was. It was probably the person who forged the Nichirin blade for him, it was so obvious! He had received a letter from the Demon Slaying Corps about the arrival of the blade that it was coming soon.

The swordsmith? approached Muzan as he wasn't sure what to do, stumbling through his words.

"W...Um, hello," Muzan greeted clumsily as he gave the person a slight bow as the person knelt down and laid down the container that they were carrying, ignoring Muzan.

"My name is Haganeduka, for I was the one who forged this blade for Muzan Kibitsuji," The identified swordsmith replied as he started to uncover the bamboo wood that laid on top of the container. "This is a Nichirin blade, forged by me. The blade is created from ore mined from the highest mountain that is closest to the sun, bathed in the harshest sun rays and never disturbed by rain or clouds."

"Sir, you can continue explaining while we get inside. It must've been a long journey," Muzan reassured Haganeduka as the latter didn't respond, Muzan knelt down beside him. Was he ignoring him?

"Sir! I'm sure we can talk about this while inside?!" Muzan then tried to look under the enormous hat to catch his attention. "Oi, can you hear m…?"

Muzan was cut off as Haganeduka, all of a sudden, looked up at Muzan with a terrifying Hyottoko mask that was just a few shades paler than Urokodaki's tengu mask. Muzan nearly collapsed as the surprise was unprecedented, Haganeduka was unfazed as he seemed to look at him intently.

"Hm, red eyes and black hair… may not be much but it could end up as a red blade," Haganeduka declared as he pointed at Muzan's eyes. "How peculiar, how peculiar. Are you related in any fire making businesses?"

"No, I used to be a farmer…" Muzan hesitantly answered as he didn't dare move, Haganeduka then allowed himself to poke Muzan's cheek. "What does the color of my eyes have anything to do with a blade?" Muzan asked as he tried to pry the finger off his face, Urokodaki ignoring the question once more.

"Oi Urokodaki! You think the blade will turn red?" Haganeduka asked as he peeked into the house, Urokodaki looking a bit tired.

"Most likely not."

Muzan sighed as he walked back into the house with the new visitor, sitting down on the opposite of Urokodaki and his supposed sword forger. Yuki sat in the corner of the living room, hiding from both the sunlight and the stranger.

"Here take it," Haganeduka roughly handed Muzan a scabbard that contained a katana, the action confusing Muzan a bit. "Now take it out."

"What? Why don't you?" Muzan asked as he looked at the scabbard.

"Nichirin blades change color when it's unsheathes by its owner, earning its name as: the blade of color changing," Haganeduka starts to wave his arms around, somehow making Muzan want to just get this over with. "The blade changes color depending on its _owner…_ as I said just a few seconds ago."

Muzan frowned as he grabbed for the hilt, slowly unsheathing his very own Nichirin blade as he set the scabbard down and admired the weapon. It only took a few seconds, but Muzan saw something creep onto his blade. The color of the blade had rapidly changed from a gleaming silver to a pale blue, almost white, the change shocking Muzan as he nearly dropped his blade. It was like the color of ice, a shiver went down his spine ominously.

"Ah.. so it's blue," Urokodaki gruffly said as Haganeduka was seen clutching his head as he fiercely jabbed a finger towards Muzan's direction.

"Is there something wrong with it?" Muzan asked frantically. "Why's _he_ freaking out?" Muzan hesitantly pointed a finger at the swordsmith as Haganeduka rushed towards his side, punching him weakly.

"No, nothing's wrong. It's just that I've never seen a blade change into that shade of blue," Urokodaki simply answered, ignoring the one-sided fight. "Haganeduka, please get off him."

"No, dammit! I thought I'd be able to see a crimson red blade but no! You just had to pull out a blue blade!" He screamed as he then pinched Muzan's cheek in retaliation. "And the color doesn't even suit you! Red eyes?! Red?! How does that end up as blue?!"

"I'm still holding the sword, goddammit! Are you trying to get me killed?!" Muzan cried out as he pushed Haganeduka off him. "How old _are_ you? You act like a toddler!"

"Thirty seven!"

"You're three years older than me! You should act more like an adult and this is coming from me!" Muzan growled as he swore under his breath. "If you're so upset by the color of the sword, then just get another person to unsheath it!"

As Haganeduka was about to respond back, a crow had flown into the room from the front door. Muzan could only assume that the new avian visitor was his kasugaigarasu, although it didn't seem to be carrying a letter. He believed that they were supposed to communicate for them, but without a letter…

"Muzan Kibitsuji!"

Muzan looked at the bird, absolutely flabbergasted as his crow spoke. How could… why was he even surprised at this point? He sighed as he waited patiently for the crow to speak again, Haganeduka was practically making his assault silent as he slowly punched him on the arm.

"Hurry and go to the north west town! Caw!" The crow managed as it flapped its wings, feathers flying everywhere. "This is your first assignment! Go kill demons!"

Muzan nodded to the bird as he went to get his Demon Slaying Corp uniform, grabbing his sword as the crow then cawed again.

"Know this well! In the north west town, young girls are going missing every night!"

He froze. Abduction?

"There are girls disappearing every night. Every night!"

—|[0o0]|—

The town was brightly lit by lanterns, the amber light surrounded Muzan as Yuki walked beside him. He hadn't seen a village so guarded before, nearly everyone he tried to talk to ignored him or waved him aside. This was most likely due to what was happening in the area, it made sense though.

Thank goodness it was nightfall, Muzan didn't need to worry about the sun or Yuki. Even if Yuki was here during the day, Muzan had a parasol that was given to him by Urokodaki. Apparently, this parasol was created from the fabric that Muzan's uniform was made of. The wood that made the handle and the spindles were made of a certain wood called "mist cloud fir," making it a light material to use. It was then strengthened by something called "rock paint," its durability was amazing. Yuki whacked the umbrella on a rock nearly a dozen times out of boredom and didn't break.

Muzan now wore his Demon Slaying uniform with his dark gray and white gradient haori on top, his sword on his hip. He felt odd, not wearing his usual kimono as he looked at the peculiar pants that he was wearing. The tabi socks were tightened with three white bows, it went up to his calves. He made up his mind to loosen one of the bows but decided against it as it would be a small bother to do so.

He blinked as he looked around the town, taking a notice on who may have been affected by the abductions. He felt a small hand clasp itself onto his, gripping it a bit. Muzan looked down at Yuki and gave her a reassuring smile.

She had been doing better ever since she awoke from her deep slumber, looking more refreshed and energetic. Urokodaki even suggested that Yuki may be able to depend on sleep rather than eating human flesh in order to regain her strength. That in itself was a blessing for Muzan. That showed how Yuki isn't a bloodthirsty demon, she hadn't even tried to attack any of the villagers ever since they stepped foot into the town.

No one in the village seemed to be curious of Yuki which was unprecedented for Muzan. He half expected for someone to come up to him and ask why his daughter had a bamboo stick tied around her mouth. To be honest, maybe the residents here were too focused on the missing girls rather than Yuki right about now.

As Muzan stepped into another section of the town, he saw a downcast boy walk past him as he saw women near a house start to gossip. He lingered around to hear what they would say, maybe this could help him in his search.

"Did you see him? Oh… I feel so bad for Kazumi, Satoko disappeared and he's left all alone…," One of the women said rather loudly. Muzan could practically see the boy, Kazumi, wince.

"He was right next to Satoko when it happened! I don't know how she even disappeared but Kazumi didn't even see what happened next…"

"And it happens every night now… such young girls…"

That was all he needed as Muzan approached Kazumi, putting a hand on the boy's shoulder. Kazumi turned around, sorrow plastered onto his face.

"Kazumi, right?" Muzan asked as the boy tiredly nodded. "I'm sorry to bother you, but I'd like to know more about this incident. If it doesn't bother you though," he added as he didn't want to make Kazumi's day worse.

Kazumi silently agreed as he waved for him and Yuki to walk alongside him, traveling to the area where the act had happened. It was near a manor of some sort, the front walls to be exact. Kazumi positioned himself to where he was standing yesterday.

"I was standing here when it happened," Kazumi simply stated as he then pointed to a spot behind him. "And that's where Satoko was standing."

Muzan frowned slightly, a hand on his chin as Yuki slyly mimicking the action. How would a demon go on about this? It might be one of the demons that Urokodaki has warned him about, the demons that could use special abilities called "Blood Demon Arts." They use their blood to cast otherworldly spells as they can easily kill and hunt faster.

"It's alright if you don't believe me, no one here believes me other than a few people…, " Kazumi solemnly muttered as Muzan shook his head.

"I believe you, I'll try my best to find her," Muzan declared as Kazumi's eyes widened. "I'm pretty sure she's still around here, all I need to do is locate where a lingering aura would be… maybe the demon's aura would be with hers as well," Muzan explained as Kazumi looked at the man in confusion.

Muzan looked at the spot of where Satoko stood before she disappeared, he could see a faint pale yellow aura that took the form of a young girl. He then looked around the aura and found another faint aura of something dark, a dark gray with a murky look to it. It was most likely the demon.

So he found the auras, now all he had to find the direction that they went towards. He scanned the area as he suddenly caught eye of the murky aura suddenly moving. It wasn't the one near Satoko, this one was far away in the distance but he could still see it barely. This time, he could barely see the bright green aura squirming around wildly.

"Are you okay?" Kazumi asked as Yuki tilted her head slightly.

"Follow me but stay behind me by four feet! I found the demon!" Muzan announced as he dashed towards the direction of the aura, then he proceeded to hop onto the roof of a house and continued running. "Yuki will protect you!"

"W...What?!" Kazumi exclaimed as Yuki grabbed the boy's hand and started to run at a pace where he would be able to keep up with.

Muzan kept his focus on the two auras, the green one was still moving which was a good thing. The demon wasn't going to eat her yet. Muzan jumped off the roof as he finally found the auras halt in a spot where they were somewhere on the ground. He looked everywhere around that specific area, the two weren't physically around so they must've been hiding?

But how?

Muzan looked down at the ground as he realized where the girl was and unsheathed his sword, the light blue blade gleamed under the moonlight as he stabbed it straight to the ground. He then saw something black start to explode from the ground, the mysterious substance then revealed a girl with long black hair. He scooped the girl into his arms and jumped back, just as a pale veiny arm clawed for his foot.

"Ngh…"

Muzan looked at the girl, she was probably dazed by the sudden kidnapping as she glanced back and forth from Muzan and the black hole that covered the area.

"Sir! I came as soon as I could!" Kazumi panted as Yuki cried out to Muzan, turning around and hurrying to hold the girl into the boy's arms.

"Help me carry her, if you two are within my range, I'll be able to protect you both," Muzan explained quickly as Kazumi nodded. Yuki stayed near Kazumi's side as Muzan took an offensive stance, ready to attack whenever. He looked down as he saw the demon's aura, split into three weaker ones as they were underground once more, about to jump right out and assault Muzan. They were most likely duplicated by the demon's Blood Demon Art.

Muzan bit his lip as he raised his blade and used the Eighth Form: Waterfall Basin as he slammed his sword down as hard as he could, the form created a strong crashing wave down onto the enemy. The demon then growled as blood poured from their shoulder, Muzan was shocked to see two duplicates of the demon surround the other.

"Why you bastard!" The injured demon hollered as one of the two that was fine ushered him to stop. "That girl was our meal!"

"Fret not, we can always target the other girl," The pleased demon reasoned as the silent one shrugged. "That one has an interesting… freshness to her. But all the girls that I've eaten were delicious either way," he drawled as he pointed towards Yuki, she snarled in response as she took a threatening step forward.

"Hold on! Where's Satoko?! Where's she!?" Kazumi screamed as Muzan could see his tears starting to form. "Give her back!"

"Oh? Well, I can't say that I know of this Satoko but… look here," The same demon that spoke tugged open his kimono to reveal a collection of hairpins that were displayed as if it were trophies. "If you see your beloveds hairpin, then I have already eaten her."

"No…," Kazumi whispered harshly to himself, tears now pouring down his cheeks. "No…"

_Do something dad! Don't let that guy get away with something like that!_

Muzan growled as he swung his sword as hard as possible towards one demon that had tried to pounce on him, he managed to cut their arms off.

_Ryo…_ Muzan thought as he tightened his grip on the handle of his blade. He then proceeded to slice the dazed demon's head off, their body falling into a puddle of black.

_Two left._

Muzan looked around him. Yuki was still safe as she looked sadly at Kazumi, putting a hand on his arm. She then rubbed the girl's hair, standing on her toes while doing so. The girl who was still in Kazumi's arms looked shocked and unsure what to make of the gesture as Kazumi managed a weak smile towards the younger girl. Yuki then adjusted her bamboo stick, looking at her father in worry as she leapt to her left, kicking something with extreme speed that Kazumi could swear he saw something twist around like a corkscrew.

Yuki growled as she stomped on the body of a now dead demon, blood leaking from their neck. The body disappeared into the ground as Muzan looked at Yuki in awe.

Urokodaki did say that Yuki was a demon after all, so she would be strong and didn't need protection. If that's the case, then she's probably stronger than him right now. Muzan shivered as he scanned around, trying to predict where the demon would stole next now that he was all alone. Muzan stepped back from where he was standing, but was suddenly falling through the ground as he could hear the demon cackling.

"Yuki! Protect those two!" Muzan ordered as he was then sucked into the ground, his line of vision was now filled with darkness. He blinked as looked up, still dark as he tried moving around in his new surroundings. He was shocked to notice that it was like swimming, floating about as he saw numerous yukatas float along with him.

_These must be his victims belongings,_ Muzan thought furiously as he moved past the articles of clothing, wading through the area until he managed to see the lonesome demon smile crazily. _This is beyond cruel! Killing just for your satisfaction!_

"So it seems you've managed to defeat my clones, but do you think you can kill me in my own environment?" The demon asked as Muzan frowned. "My swamp has nearly no air! You'll suffocate in my domain before you land a strike on me."

Muzan noticed the lack of air just as the demon mentioned it, giving him more motivation to quickly get this fight over with. Though he had faced thinner air than this swamp when he trained on top of Mount Sagiri.

The demon lunged towards Muzan, a simple kick launched the demon a few feet away from him as Muzan readied an attack. As he raised his sword to do the Seventh Form: Drop Ripple Thrust-curve, the demon immediately changed directions and shot himself into the darkness and rapidly pounced around in the darkness. Muzan staggered as he couldn't focus on the target, his aura was everywhere at this point. In a stroke of luck, he was able to see the demon get the jump on him as Muzan readied another attack as he violently twisted his body around, the Sixth Form: Whirlpool, creating a raging vortex of water that caught the demon in its wrath.

Muzan waited as the water dissipated, only leaving him with a decapitated demon and their blood floating in the void. He nodded to himself as the lack of oxygen in this swamp was going to kill him if he stayed any longer as he swam up, seeing a small hole of light greet him. He managed to climb out of the swamp and into the real world, taking in the precious oxygen as he heard Kazumi cry out to Yuki.

"Ngh!" Yuki winced as she clutched her clawed eye, blood pouring down her face as she tried her best to wipe it off.

A demon, presumably the real one, growled as he tried to scratch Yuki once more. Fury led Muzan to leap towards the two as he quickly sliced the assaulting demon's arms and slashed their chest for a safety precaution. Now that Muzan and Yuki has finally beat all of the real demon's clones, they can finally confront them face to face.

"You've decided to stop being a coward," Muzan declared as he fluidly raised his blade up to the demon's neck, they flinched. "What do you have to say for yourself? After killing all those innocent girls?" The Demon Slayer asked as he kicked the demon down against a wall.

"They were going to grow old and uglier! If I were to eat them, then I would be able to preserve their everlasting beauty and youth!" The demon replied as Muzan stabbed them in the shoulder. "You should be thanking me!"

Muzan's face darkened in horror as a reply towards the demon, dragging his blade downwards as the demon screamed in pain. He glared down at the monster as he was about to twist the blade.

"Let's not talk about that any further," Muzan simply stated as the demon shuddered in pain even as he was regenerating. "Let's talk about something I want to ask you about."

"What?"

"What do you know about Tanjiro Kamado?"

—|[0o0]|—

"_Tanjiro Kamado?" Muzan asked as Urokodaki looked at him in pity. _

"_Yes, he is the progenitor of all demons. He is the only one whose blood that flows through his veins can transform a human into a demon," His mentor stated as Muzan clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white. "He's also the enemy of your family, I have reason to believe that he was the one who exterminated your family, turning your daughter into what she is now."_

_Muzan stayed silent as he awaited more information to be spat out at him, the suspense was killing him from the inside._

"_He's the bastard who killed my wife… my son and my parents and hers!" Muzan snarled through gritted teeth. "Do you know where he is?!"_

"_Sadly, I don't. But the demons you will encounter might know. When you defeat them, before you kill them," Urokodaki said as Muzan leaned in to hear. "Ask them about him. There's a low chance that they'll say anything but hope that you'll get an answer."_

_Muzan looked devastated as he turned to look at Yuki who was wrapped in a bundle of blankets, he was afraid. Utterly afraid as he was scared for Yuki's life. _

"_But if he's able to turn humans to demons, wouldn't he also be able to turn demons back to humans?" Muzan asked as Urokodaki went silent. "Please tell me he can."_

"_Perhaps, but you have to ask him yourself."_

"_Still! I don't know anything about him to discern his location!" Muzan complained as Urokodaki shook his head._

"_You saw his aura, did you not?" Urokodaki asked. "Use that information to find that lingering aura of his."_

—|[0o0]|—

"I cannot say."

"_What?_" Muzan's voice shakes as the demon seemed to be shivering and shaking in fright. "Why can't you say anything?"

"I can't say! I just can't! If I do…!" The demon shouted as he slashed at Muzan with his regenerated arm, Muzan interrupted what the demon would say next as he stepped aside as he had no choice but to slice the demon's head off. The head landed with a thud as the body slowly turned to dust.

"Satoko…" Kazumi murmured as he laid down the girl he was holding near the wall. He stumbled towards Muzan, his legs near collapsing if it weren't for the help from Muzan.

"Calm down," Muzan reassured the boy as Kazumi clenched his arms in grief.

"How could I calm down when my fiancée is dead!?" Kazumi shot back, trembling. "Do you think this is a time for me to _calm_ down?"

"Kazumi," Muzan looked at Kazumi directly as he put a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Even if you are thrown back down by loss, you should continue to stand up. Stand up and keep walking to honor their deaths, no matter how hard it hurts. You can't cling onto death when it already happened."

"What? How would you know how it feels like?!" Kazumi wipes the tears off his face as Muzan noticed something red on the ground that was left by the demon.

"Maybe I faced the same situation you were faced with," Muzan simply replied as he handed Kazumi what he had found. "I believe it's best for you to take this with you."

"I…!" Kazumi paused as he held Satoko's red bow in his hands, the tears start to fall again.

"I'm sorry, that's all there's left. I could've gotten…." Muzan added as Kazumi shook his head.

"This is enough. Thank you…"

Muzan nodded as he looked at Yuki, her wound had healed completely. She hummed as she looked at Kazumi one final time as she gave him a wave before slipping her hand into her father's once more.

As the two walk off, Muzan frowned as he recalled what the demon has said about Tanjiro Kamado. They said that they couldn't talk about them, but why? Were they threatened by Tanjiro to not talk about him?

Muzan blinked as he felt something make itself comfortable on his shoulder, he looked to his right as he saw his crow flap its wings for a bit until they look at Muzan. He pet the crow on the head as the latter didn't seem to appreciate the gesture, turning its head away from him.

"The next mission is Asakusa in Tokyo Prefecture! Rumors are spreading of a demon hiding somewhere there! Caw!" The crow announced as Muzan looked at them as if they were saying something foreign.

"Asakusa?" Muzan repeated as he sighed. He'd heard many stories about life in the cities from his wife, she had previously lived in a city before moving to live with him in the countryside. He knew of tall buildings and electricity that made life much easier, the invention of something called a telephone. "Do we have to go there now? Can't we take a break?"

"No! No breaks!" The crow responded.

"What?! Hold on a second!"

"No! Go now! Go now! Caw!"

—|[0o0]|—

His crow flew into his bedroom, perching themselves on the palm of his hand. He gently brushed his messenger's wings as the crow seemed to enjoy it.

"There are five survivors, caw! They are now given their assigned missions!"

He smiled yet his heart grew deep of guilt. So many children died… but they needed to prove themselves otherwise they couldn't survive in the real world. He had to make sure that he sees their names, or at least what they looked like. He wouldn't let their deaths be in vain.

"Is that so? Anything else in particular?"

His crow seemed to pause for a moment until it lifted its head up suddenly.

"Your children told me to report to you that there was a man that might cawtch your interest!"

Now this caught his attention as he awaited an answer from the feathered messenger.

"His name is Muzan Kibitsuji! Trained under Urocawdaki!" The crow managed as he nodded.

Muzan… now that's a name that he hadn't expected to hear after all those years ago. But his family name was Kibutsuji but…there was a possibility.

"Please tell his crow to keep a steady eye on him," He ordered as the crow nodded and flew away. He let out a sigh of relief, it's been ages ever since he's heard that name.

He had thought that any other relatives of his had died due to his hands but it seems that he was proven otherwise.

Time will tell whether or not he is truly who he think he is.

—|[0o0]|—

**Notes:** I don't really have anything else to say about this chapter to be honest. It's actually a pretty fun chapter to write, I didn't face any problems while writing it other than the fight scenes. I'm not really a pro at them but I hope you guys like them. Anyways, that's all I wanted to say. Thanks for reading and have a good day/night!


	7. Chapter 7: Rage

**Notes:** I'd like to deeply apologize for not updating this fic in a year. It really has been a year huh? Anyways, I've been in and out of the KNY fandom for a bit and the manga is finished. I don't plan on following the series exactly, there will be canon divergence and I've been updating and polishing the plot of this story while coming back to write this chapter. I'm no longer sticking to my schedule of posting a chapter once a week as my current one is too busy. I'll update when I can and I apologize once more for any delays. I also have drawn some fake anime screenshots of Muzan and Yuki! You can find them on my Instagram account which is named jazzviii!

Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

—|[0o0]|—

The city was like a whole different world.

The harsh luminous lights of Asakusa greeted Muzan and Yuki as they stepped foot into the city, both trying to shield their eyes as they maneuver themselves through the crowds of people. It took Muzan and Yuki numerous days to travel to the city, but it was definitely worth it.

The sight of a city was a new experience for the two.

_So many people…_ Muzan thought as he looked around the area, the tall buildings towered over the populous as it was brightly lit from the inside. Nearly every building that he had seen so far was accompanied by festive and colorful banners that advertised what they were selling, tempting him to try to check the place out.

"Mmm…," Yuki looked dazed and pained as she shut her eyes, burying her face into Muzan's arm. She seemed quite overwhelmed by her new surroundings, constantly peeking in and out from his sleeve. There were some people who looked at the two weirdly, Muzan caught the eyes of a woman who was staring at Yuki's bamboo muzzled mouth, the woman quickly turned around as he tried to hide his confused reaction.

Considering the circumstances, it'd be fair for someone to react in such a way although it was a bit rude, to say the least.

Mentioning circumstances, his crow had mentioned that there were sightings of demons within the city. The city was busy, the fact that there were nearly dozens… no, hundreds of people in Asakusa are going to pose a problem towards Muzan. A single demon could've massacred the crowd he was in.

He took a deep breath as he took in the numerous auras that he saw in front of him, they were all shining brightly as Muzan tried his best to find a place with the least amount of people. The bright lights didn't help his case as he felt as if his eyes were going to go blind.

"Yuki?" Muzan said as loud as possible, tugging her hand towards his direction to a small market stall that didn't seem to have many people crowding around it. "We'll be resting here! Remember, we need to find a demon and…"

_Ah, I forgot that I need to kill them… but if I kill them in such a populated place that doesn't know that demons..._

"Mmm?" Yuki hummed in confusion as Muzan bit his lip.

What would Muzan do? This was quite a precarious situation and since there are not many places here that would allow someone to just unsheathe their sword in the middle of a crowd. Plus, he had heard from his wife from a long time ago that people weren't allowed to possess any type of weapon while entering a city... yet that was a long time ago, perhaps times have changed.

Yet, Muzan had to find this demon first before contemplating using his nichirin blade. That was the goal and the hardest part. It was going to be difficult as his biggest strength, his eyesight, was being turned against him here. There were so many auras in one place, bright lights, and people for him to just pinpoint one single individual. He wasn't very well versed in using this ability and he had only started training his eyesight two years ago.

"What am I going to do now?" Muzan harshly whispered to himself. What _was_ he going to do? Maybe he'd be able to see the demon somewhere no one would suspect them to be? Perhaps somewhere obvious? If only his crow had told him about where _exactly_ the demon was last seen in Asakusa. "I'm useless right now..."

Muzan leaned against the stall he was behind and groaned in frustration. He needed to focus, he can't just give up now.

Yuki perks up and points a finger at Muzan's stomach.

"Mmh?"

"...Well, I'm not too hungry," He looks around as he tries to pinpoint any suspicious dull colors. If only the lights were dimmed, he'd be able to differentiate everyone faster.

Suddenly yet gently, he felt a small tug on his haori as he looked down and saw Yuki looking up at him. She seemed a bit hesitant as she started poking Muzan with her parasol.

"Hm? What is it, Yuki?" Muzan asked with a small smile as Yuki pointed her parasol to something or someone behind him. He looked around as he saw a... woman holding a bottle of some sort. It had a small nozzle on it as the woman looked up and Muzan froze.

Her aura was a dull lavender color, he knew that only demons had dull auras yet... this woman didn't seem to be a threat. Unlike many other demons, this woman's aura was... calm and peaceful. He couldn't sense a hint of bloodlust or evil from this... person.

"Sir? Are you here to purchase anything?" The woman asked as Muzan flinched, unsure how to answer.

"I... I'm not sure," Muzan replied, unsure. The woman nodded as Muzan got a better look at her.

She had dark lavender eyes with no pupils, wore her dark brown hair into a low bun, and donned a dark purple kimono that was patterned with red flowers, light purple branches, and finally accompanied by a cream-colored obi.

"Sir? You're looking quite ill, are you alright?"

"No, I'm rather fine," He manages as he tries to ignore the fact that... he was quite literally just talking with a demon. Was she his target? No... she looked too... too nice. Everything about this woman was calm and gentle.

"Ah, very well. You were looking at my eyes quite intently, forgive me if I was quick to assumptions," She nodded. She then presented the small bottle she held towards Muzan as Yuki growled slightly. "Would you like to test out of our products?"

"Grr... Mmph...!" Yuki hid behind Muzan as the woman seemed a bit shocked. Muzan panicked as he tried to think of an excuse.

"I apologize! My daughter doesn't like it when strangers approach me, it's fine," Muzan excused himself as he knelt to Yuki's level. "Yuki? What's the matter? Are you alright?"

Yuki seemed to calm down as soon as Muzan comforted her, making Muzan confused. Why did Yuki react that way when the woman presented that bottle?

"Sorry, about that bottle... what is it?" Muzan asked as he pointed towards the item.

"This is a product called perfume. I just created it but I only have a few bottles, I was planning on selling them."

"Huh... I remember my wife using perfume once but she hated how pungent the smell was," He chuckled. "But I wish you the best of luck on selling them. I'm currently waiting for somebody, I guess I can let you test the product on me."

"Really? Thank you, sir."

The woman gently grabbed Muzan's hand and spritzed the perfume once onto the top of his hand. After a few seconds, Muzan could faintly smell a floral scent as he brought his hand to his nose to smell it.

"It smells sweet... What flower did you use for this?" Muzan asked as the woman stepped back a bit.

"Wisteria, it's not a very popular flower for me to use but the smell is quite lovely."

_Wisteria...?!_

Muzan quickly looked up at the woman as he looked down at his hand. Weren't wisteria used to repel demons?

"Did you...?!" Muzan quickly asked as the woman nodded. "Wait, are you a...?"

"Forgive me, I have a customer waiting for me. I believe we'll meet again, sir," The woman said as she walked back to her stand and then disappeared. Muzan cursed under his breath as he wiped the perfume off yet he could still smell the scent of wisteria.

"Yuki..."

"Mmmph, mmph! Grrr..."

Yuki refused to walk near Muzan now as he facepalmed himself. That woman... she didn't seem the type to kill or hurt someone yet... Why did she use wisteria on him? Did she do it as an excuse? Why was that?

She said she created that perfume by herself… but right now he had to deal with Yuki. This wisteria perfume was repelling Yuki away from him.

"Ugh... Why is this happening?" Muzan asks as he sees Yuki stray far from him as he can see her sneak into the stand where the woman disappeared.

"Yuki! Come back here!" Muzan sternly said as he approached Yuki in the stand. Yuki shook her head as she ran off, running away from the stand as Muzan yelled in frustration in his mind as he gave chase.

"Yuki! Come back here right this instant! You'll get hurt!" Muzan yelled as Yuki ducked and weaved through the crowd.

_She'll get hurt or worse, encounter the demon! I still won't believe that woman was the demon...! She doesn't seem like... the other demons I've encountered in Mount Sagiri and the demons from the Final Selection..._

"I'm sorry. Sorry!" Muzan apologizes as he tries to pinpoint Yuki's aura, it was a dull plum color, a unique color that'll help him identify her faster. How annoying, that lady…! Spraying wisteria perfume on him… maybe she knew? Or maybe, to protect him? No… that couldn't be the case. But then again, no one here knows about Yuki's condition as a demon so that couldn't be the case.

"Oi! Watch it!"

"Sorry!"

He kept rubbing his hand, trying to get rid of the scent as he saw Yuki's aura. He nodded to himself as he managed to push through the crowd as he looked around. Her aura was suddenly gone as he lost sight of her entirely.

_No...! No no no no no!_

Muzan started to panic as he frantically looked everywhere for Yuki, trying to run past everyone as he felt his heart bang against his chest.

_I shouldn't have trusted that woman! Why she…! Screw it!_

He scrambled to the nearest stand as he looked around for anything to stand on. He saw the owner of the stand and begged for him to climb onto the top of his stand as he didn't wait for an answer.

"Where is she…?!" Muzan's eyes darted from left to right as he tried to find her. He had to. He can't let anyone know that she was a demon or else….

_She'll die. I'll lose my right to live if she dies… She's all I have left!_

"S-Sir?! Please get off!"

"I've lost my daughter! I need to find her!" Muzan refuted as he continued to scan the area. Why….? Why couldn't he see? Was his ability… his superhuman sight that horrid? "Plum… Plum…!"

He frowns as he suddenly sees… plum, Yuki's aura, alongside a—

Red.

Burgundy red.

He felt something grow within him. He remembered that color.

That day. That horrible day.

He never forgot a color in his life.

It was unmistakable. The person who killed his family was in this crowd at this very moment. Muzan blinked as he saw where Yuki was in full clarity, regaining his sight.

_Rei, her parents, Ryouichi, and my own parents… _

They all died to this person. This _one_ person.

He had to focus. The killer was just a few yards away from Yuki.

He jumped off the stand, hand over the hilt of his blade as he saw Yuki's aura a few feet away from him. He grabbed his water pouch and drenched his hand with the water and started rubbing his hand furiously. The smell had to be gone now.

For two years, he trained. Trained as hard as he could in order to fight demons, to kill that person… no, thing. That tragedy led to where he and Yuki were right now.

They'll pay. They'll suffer.

Muzan reached out towards Yuki as she seemed shocked as Muzan grabbed her by the hand, quickly rushing away from the demon behind them. Right now, he couldn't push out a fumbled apology to whomever he pushed as he needed to get Yuki somewhere safe.

"Hrmm! Mmgh!" Yuki seemed confused as she cried out to Muzan as his hand over his blade started to shake with rage.

Was that a figment of his imagination? The stress?

Muzan looked behind him and froze for a second.

The aura. The aura was gone. It was as if they vanished without a trace.

"What?" Muzan asked as he frantically looked around, looking for that aura. He looked at Yuki who was shocked by what had happened as she gripped the handle of her parasol, she stifled a low growl.

Muzan then started to try to pinpoint any afterimages of the burgundy red aura, he took a deep breath as he blinked.

In a flash, he saw the aura.

It stood in front of them, just a few feet away.

Muzan froze, instinctively, he stood guard in front of Yuki as he bit his lip. He felt something was absolutely wrong, his stomach was curling up into itself as his breathing got uneven. He felt cold, he was scared.

But why?

He knew why, he just didn't want to acknowledge it. He'd die and so would Yuki.

The demon knew he was here.

Muzan took a deep breath, trying to keep calm despite his panic rising by the second. He can't.

Just as he tried to even his breathing, to tame his fear, keep Yuki at bay from danger, he saw it. A sudden blur as he stood there, petrified.

Someone, no, something had perched on his shoulder. Their grip was tight as if they didn't want him to run away.

A hand on his shoulder as its veins were popping out, Muzan looked to whoever the hand belonged to.

He couldn't feel any warmth from that hand, it was freezing.

"Sir? Are you alright?"

The voice belonged to a young boy, around Yuki's age. That boy smiled as his red cat-like eyes beamed at Muzan's, something about the smile seemed porcelain. It's as if it was going to crack at any moment. He wore a simple black yukata with a green and black checker pattern, had black hair with burgundy tips, and had a prominent scar on his forehead.

Muzan couldn't bother to comment on why the boy was approaching him as he realized something else.

This boy's aura.

It was burgundy red.

The boy standing right in front of him killed everyone in his family.

The progenitor demon. Tanjiro Kamado.

"You…!" Muzan was about to scream, plunge his blade into this thing's head, decapitate him, and make him pay for what he did. He could not see this boy as a demon anymore, he was more than that.

He was a monster. An unfeeling creature.

Muzan got ready to unsheathe his blade, took a step forward, and…

"Oh? What is this?"

A nasally yet grand voice boomed as Muzan growled and saw a man walking up to the boy. The feature that Muzan first noticed was how peculiar his aura was.

It obviously belonged to a demon, the colors were murky and blended into each other but… the colors were that of a rainbow. His aura shimmered but it felt off, like the aura's owner.

The newcomer was slightly taller than Muzan, donning steel blonde hair with a small circular red-black stain on the top of his head. His eyes looked like his aura as it was more pastel-like, wearing flashy bright red kimono with a black splatter pattern that looks the same as the one on his hair, and was holding a gold fan.

_Wait… his eyes…_

Muzan sees… kanji? In the newcomer's eyes, it read, "Upper-Rank Two."

"What?" Muzan whispered to himself as the man chuckled, starting to fan himself.

"Ah! Forgive my assistant! Did he bother you, sir?"

"I was just checking on him, he was breathing heavily and was looking everywhere for something," That murderer smiled, it was as if he was purposely goading Muzan. Trying to get a reaction out of him.

Muzan tensed up as the demon mentioned them. How could he talk so nonchalantly? How dare he talk as if this was no big deal.

This was the murderer of his family, standing right in front of him.

He was smiling like a child being given sweets, looking proud of himself.

"Why, how nice of you!" The newcomer showed off a toothy grin, patting Tanjiro on the head. "So? Are you alright, sir?"

_You…!_

"How dare you," Muzan trembled as he looked at Tanjiro, he felt himself boiling in anger and murderous intent. "How _DARE _you!"

His outburst caught the attention of others, people starting looking at Muzan in curiosity, disgust, confusion, so many emotions…

"How dare you walk out here! Acting as if you're some sort of saint?! Look at me, you disgusting cretin!" Muzan snapped, gripping at the hilt. He had to kill him, right now, right here. "Don't even try to hide the blood on your hands!"

He didn't care if people viewed him as a monster for killing someone in public. They didn't know. They didn't know the pain and anguish that this creature threw upon him, the deaths of so many people.

The only thing concerning him was Tanjiro's friend here. This demon next to him is an "Upper-Rank Two." What did that mean?

"Huh?! Me? But I didn't do anything, I just asked if you were okay!"

"You've killed and tortured so many people…! You have no right to walk around here as if you did nothing wrong! I know you killed my family, so don't try to hide!" Muzan retaliated as he could hear Yuki grumbling behind him.

"Mmph?!" Yuki cried out as she tried to figure out what was going on, she peeked over Muzan's side. She looks at Tanjiro for a second, she frowns as she flinches as she sees the eyes.

Those red eyes...

_That's him…!_

She remembered those eyes. They reminded her of something, something truly horrid had happened to her when she saw them.

_Yuki! I'll protect you! Okay? You'll be alright, it's going to be okay…!_

It had hurt so much for her, so much pain. Those eyes also hurt her father so much… it's that boy's fault.

_So you're the descendant of that accursed family… sleep well._

Yuki growled as she took a step forward, revealing herself to Tanjiro. Muzan blocked her as she howled in pain, she gripped her parasol tightly as she slammed it onto the wall in anger. The wall cracked as passersby quickly ran away, scaring them all.

"Gragh! Ungh!" Yuki pointed her parasol at Tanjiro, she wanted to hurt him. Hurt him as he hurt her. "Mragh!"

"Is that your daughter?" The newcomer asked as he looked concerned, his colorful eyes looking down on the both of them. "I'm afraid that you're setting a bad example."

"Shut up!" Muzan fought back against Yuki, she kept trying to approach Tanjiro as her nails started to grow longer and sharper. "Snap out of it, Yuki!"

_She looks more of a demon now than them!_

The progenitor demon didn't seem to answer as his eyes shifted from Muzan to Yuki as he seemed as if he was sniffing the air. The outburst from Muzan and the scene from Yuki seemed to scare off some nearby people as they quickly walked away.

"This scent…" Tanjiro mused as he dropped his facade, suddenly looking at Yuki and then Muzan with a darkened expression. "I thought I had… how did I lose your scent?"

"Tanjiro-sama? I believe we've wasted enough time on them! I have to go to meet up with my followers…!"

"Be quiet," Tanjiro hissed quietly as he looked behind him and saw a couple walking past him. "We'll leave on my mark."

Muzan looked at Tanjiro once more, finally deciding that he'd unsheathe his blade. He stepped forward as he was going to end this once and for all.

"You're dying here, by my hand! I'll slice that head off your neck!" Muzan cursed as Tanjiro frowned. Just as he was going to use Fourth Form: Striking Tide to attack, he saw the demon's hand twitch ever so slightly.

Muzan jumped back just as Tanjiro swiped his clawed hand, scratching a woman's neck so quickly that no one but him had noticed that it happened. The woman immediately dropped to the ground in shock as a man, presumably her husband, quickly rushed to her side.

"Why you…!" Muzan growled as he looked back at where Tanjiro was standing but he was walking away from him with that rainbow-eyed man. "Come back here!"

Muzan stopped as he looked at the woman who was attacked as her husband laid her head on his chest, asking if she was okay. Yuki, who was still angered by Tanjiro's sudden appearance, was trying her best to calm down as she looked at the crowd.

"Tch! Yuki, calm down! Ma'am?! Sir?! Are you okay?" Muzan rushed over the couple's side as he grabbed a bundle of bandages out from his pack, checking the woman's wound.

"I...I don't know! She won't respond!" The husband cried out as he tried to support his wife's drooping head.

As Muzan was going to get his water pouch to clean the wound, the woman's mouth twitched as he felt his heart drop.

"Watch out!" Muzan warned as he pushed the woman away from the man as an animalistic growl rose from the woman's throat. She looked up with frenzied eyes, her sclera turned pitch-black, while her teeth turned into fangs as she dashed towards Muzan.

Muzan took his saya off his belt as he used it as a guard against the woman as she attempted to bite him. Muzan shoved the saya into her mouth, using it as a gag while the woman-now-turned-demon tried to twist and turn as she flailed her nails around.

"Ngah!" The husband yelled as his arm was clawed, he winced as Muzan managed to get her to lay on the ground, trying his best to restrain her.

"Everyone stay away from her!"

"B-But! That's my wife!"

"You're hurt because of her! Please trust me!" Muzan ordered as he threw his bandages and water pouch to the husband. "Put pressure on the wound and clean it! Yuki, help him! Please!"

_Why?! He just hurt an innocent person just for him to escape…! That BASTARD! _

Yuki started handing the items to the husband as Muzan steadied himself,

He turned around, looking for Tanjiro's aura as he gritted his teeth, steeling his resolve, to tell him exactly what he wanted to do to him.

"Tanjiro Kamado! You _disgusting_ piece of shit! I'll rip your limbs off one by one and make sure I flay you alive with my blade! You'll _pay_ for what you've done to my family! You'll straight go to hell!" He looked right at Tanjiro's aura, he was absolutely sure that vermin was looking right at him back. "I'll pursue to the ends of the earth! I'll find you and I will behead you myself! I swear that until the day I die!"

"What is that man talking about?! Why is he talking like that?"

"How vulgar! He has a sword!"

"Get the police! Oh, they're arriving!"

"I'll never forgive you!" Muzan screamed as the aura stopped for a few seconds. Through the crowd, he can barely see those accursed red eyes. It was as they were trying to stare him down, make him falter. Or was he furious that he even dared to call him out?

"Mmh!" Yuki quickly rushed over as Muzan saw her frantically pointing over the crowd, he saw a small group of men rushing over to them as they kept the crowd at bay.

"What are you doing to that lady?! Get off of her right now!" A man in uniform declared as Muzan stayed still, trying his best not to look crazy.

"If I do, you'll get hurt! Look at that man over there! Please get him somewhere safe!" Muzan answered as the woman thrashed around wildly, he restrained her arms as he tried to pin her to the ground again and at the same time, he tried to keep the saya in her mouth as a gag. The police started to try to separate both Muzan and the woman as he tried fighting back.

"I can't let you do that to a person! That's inhumane!"

"Then help me get the proper items to restrain her! I'll do it, so please don't be near her, or else you'll actually get hurt! She… She's just not feeling too well, just please don't hurt her!" Muzan pleaded as he felt someone trying to drag him away.

"Men! Help me get him off!"

"No! Get off of me! You don't know how to deal with this! This person didn't…!"

"Look at her face! She looks as if she'll…!"

"This isn't her fault! Stop it! If you keep doing this, she'll overpower me!" Muzan tried to shove the officers off, but more kept trying to tear him away. He was going to lose his grip on his saya if this keeps up.

So many people were trying to fight against him, he felt so tired, so done with this situation but he couldn't give up.

_Breathe in. Breathe out. Be calm, relax. _

"...This scent!" He quickly realized as he frowned.

He smelled… a peculiar fragrance. This scent reminded him of that perfume from before, that lady who was a demon… back at that stand.

He looked up at the crowd as he something that would've looked like it came right out of a dream.

Waves of colorful flowers blocked his vision and the officers from trying to get to Muzan. The pleasant floral smell wafted around the area as Muzan was surrounded by such vibrant colors, he felt strangely at ease.

"Where is he?! I can't see anything!"

"What are these flowers!? Why are they here?"

_...This doesn't seem to be an attack. I might be wrong yet at this moment, it seemed as if this was aimed towards the officers._

Muzan looked up as he suddenly saw that dull lavender aura again, behind the flowers. The colors parted ways as he saw a young boy with pale-green hair that had black tips and the woman who sprayed the wisteria perfume on him. The woman's right arm was dripping with blood as Muzan looked shocked.

"...So you really were a demon?" Muzan asked. "Was that a Blood Demon Art?"

"Yes, you seemed to know that since the start. What everyone is seeing is an illusion," The woman nodded as she looked at Muzan's current situation. "You treat them as if they are still human, you tried to save them."

"...I...this isn't her fault," Muzan pleaded. "She had nothing to do with what I had to."

"I see. So I shall lend you my help," The woman tugged on her right sleeve, to hide the blood. "I too, want to end the man that calls himself Kamado."

"Why?" He asked as it confused him. "Did… of course, all demons are created by him…"

"Correct, and please bring that man with you. Though I am a demon, I am a doctor. You may give me the lady, I'll bring her to my residence."

Muzan sighs as he nods, gently taking the saya out of the demon's mouth and handing her restrained arms to the woman. He calls over Yuki as the woman allowed Yuki to lead the man over to their side, who was still confused.

"Mm!" Yuki hummed as she grabbed Muzan's hand, he forced a smile as he gave her a pat on the head. He looked on, seeing the woman and the boy walk off, motioning that they follow them.

_So this demon… These rumors of a demon roaming the streets of Asakusa were about him, not her. _

"Now, shall we?"

—|[0o0]|—

"Here's your order of gyoza! Eat up!"

"Thank you," Muzan nodded as he grabbed his plate and sat down on a log outside the food stall, next to Yuki. He grabbed his chopsticks and started eating, blowing on his food as it was still hot.

"Huh? Your kid ain't hungry?" The gyoza seller asked as he walked up to Muzan. "I can cook up another batch for ya."

"Oh no, it's fine! She said that she's not hungry," Muzan nervously explained as Yuki nodded. "And this is just a small snack, it's not a big deal."

"Huh, sorry. Just wanted to know cause your kid had that bamboo thing…"

"Uh… she loves wearing that."

"Really?"

"...Yes," Muzan started stuffing his gyoza in his mouth, quickly eating it as he gave his plate back to the gyoza man. "Thank you very much for the meal."

"Wait, that doesn't seem…!"

"Come on, Yuki," Muzan sighed as Yuki grabbed Muzan's hand and walked off. He gagged as he felt as if he wanted to throw up, he shouldn't have forced himself to eat all those gyozas all at once.

"...That was a mistake," He looked off into the distance in a daze as he rubbed his face.

This day was throwing whatever it could into his face and it just wanted him to suffer. Just what had happened today? What would be the chances that he'd meet them, the…

_I don't want to think about him, it's just doing to drag me deeper into my anger._

Yuki cocked her head as she grumbled, tugging on Muzan's arm roughly, he winced in pain as he swore he heard a bone crack.

"Whoa…!" He exclaimed, looking at Yuki in confusion. "What is it?"

She directed his gaze to the house to their right, Muzan noticed a small figure lingering there. It was that boy from before, with pale-green hair. As the duo walked over, the boy sneered as if they were uninvited to be near him.

"You two were taking your precious time."

"Sorry, I was rather hungry," Muzan apologizes as he bowed quickly, Yuki bowed as well, not knowing what was going on. "Yuki, you don't have to do that. Anyways, are you…?"

"Am I what?" The boy spat out vehemently. "What? Say it."

"Are you both really demons? I apologize because I…"

"Yes, what do you think? You knew about her but you don't about me?"

"Look, I'm just making sure. I apologize," Muzan tried to end that conversation, looking awkward. The boy crossed his arms in a huff, looking as if he's going to hit something out of spite.

"Whatever, anyway, are you ready? I'll guide you to Lady Tamayo's place, so you better behave. Both you and that beast," The boy explained, swiftly turning around as he started to leave the area.

_Beast? Me? Wait, he means…?_

"Are you calling my daughter a beast?" Muzan snapped as the boy rolled his eyes, not turning back as Muzan tried to calm down. "Hey, say that again to my face. Say that to Yuki's face, I dare you, look at us and…"

After a few minutes of a one-sided argument, they finally arrived in front of a large house with a piece of peculiar paper tagged on the top of the entrance.

"You better apologize!"

"Lady Tamayo, I brought the nuisances here," The boy said as Muzan held back the urge to harshly snap back at him.

"Welcome back, Yushiro. Oh, and please take a seat," The lady replied as she motioned her hand to some chairs next to her. She was sitting next to a bed with the man that Muzan saved, the man was sound asleep and his arm was wrapped up in bandages.

"...Tamayo, correct?" Muzan asked hesitantly. He felt somewhat nervous, not knowing what would happen to him now. "I… Thank you for helping us back in the city. I don't know what I would've done if you hadn't intervened."

"You don't need to thank me, sir," Tamayo answered with a gentle look. "As you know, I am Tamayo and this boy is named Yushiro, I hope that we may get along."

"As if," Yushiro mumbled as Tamayo shot him a stern look. "Hmph."

"I'm Muzan Kibutsuji and this is my daughter, Yuki," Muzan introduced as Yuki nodded quickly, earning a curious expression from Tamayo. "...Is something the matter?"

"She's a demon, isn't she?"

"Y...Yes, she is. It's because of him," Muzan refused to mention them as he looked down at the floor. "Anyways, how are they? The couple?"

"The husband just needs to rest, but the wife? She needs to be kept somewhere where she'll be safe," She answered as Muzan and Yuki took a seat.

"...I also wanted to ask you something. About… being a demon…?" Muzan asked as he turned around and saw Yushiro pausing as he was about to slap him. "Ah. I'm afraid your… apprentice was going to hit me."

"How dare you ask that to Lady Tamayo! As demons, we must endure the smell of blood and flesh. And you ask us to respect you as humans, trying to ask insensitive questions!" Yushiro growled, lowering his hand down in vain. "Lady Tamayo, you don't need to answer…!"

"That is enough. Why must you resort to violence, Yushiro?" Tamayo responded calmly. "What is it that you want to say, Kibutsuji-san?"

"Well, I wanted to know this as soon as I arrived here but…" Muzan frowned slightly as he took a deep breath. "That… monster. Why do you want to kill him? Doesn't he control all demons? I mean, Yuki isn't for some reason and…"

"It's alright. You have the right to know," Tamayo said. "I'll tell you what I know."

—|[0o0]|—

"Ehhh, that was quite the outburst!"

"..."

"I mean, that expression on his face was amazing! So much anger, he was about to slice your neck off, right there! Simply superb, wouldn't you say?"

Tanjiro looked at the rainbow-eyed demon with disdain as he flexed his hand, sharp nails appeared as veins bulged out of his arm.

"No. It wasn't, Douma-san," Tanjiro mused as he looked down at his nails. They were a dark maroon, the color of blood. "It was rather unpleasant."

"Oh? Did you really think that?" The now-identified demon asked, smiling. "But he seemed to know you! I thought you'd use your…!"

Douma suddenly paused mid-sentence as he felt a chill, looking shocked as he felt something trickling down his chest. He peered down, blood was pouring down his neck, his throat was slashed open.

"Gah…!" Douma traced the line that had been cut in his throat, merely happily humming as Tanjiro took a deep breath. Douma felt his neck repairing itself, the skin tissue started to cover the slash and he beamed with delight. "I was just curious, Tanjiro-sama! Am I not allowed the freedom to speak?"

"...You are. You just happened to mention that man," The boy merely stated as he flicked his hand, the blood splattered onto the wall. The two walked into an alleyway, devoid of any souls who might overhear their conversation. "He is the one I am looking for. So was the demon that he had behind him."

"Huh? That girl? Oh, if I remember correctly," Douma whipped out his fan and started playing around with the blades. "She was that man's daughter, I presume. But she's under your control, right?" He asked as Tanjiro shook his head.

"...She isn't. I don't know why, it's bugging me," Tanjiro narrowed his eyes. "But I remember that I have never converted any of that family into a demon, I was sure I had annihilated their assurance."

"But you have a second chance! Just order someone low-level ones to kill him, not a big deal," The silver-blonde shrugged. "Or you can let Akaza do it!"

"No, Douma. Must I remind you about your duty to find what I requested of the Upper Moons?" Tanjiro said. "I have others on standby and you said that you had a meeting with your followers."

"Oh…!" Douma snapped his fingers loudly. "I completely forgot! Man, that's a bummer for sure! Anyways, if your standbys end up dying, you always know who to call!"

Tanjiro narrowed his eyes as he snapped his own fingers, a sudden flash of gray and black appeared and settled as two demons knelt before Tanjiro and Douma.

"What is your bidding?"

"Them?" Douma asked as Tanjiro rolled his eyes.

"I'd like you two to help me locate and kill the demon slayer with Ubuyashiki blood. You saw them when I confronted them, you'll do what you can," The burgundy haired demon ordered as the standbys nodded and flickered away. Tanjiro shook his head as he looked at Douma with a disappointed gaze.

"What's wrong?"

"They'll probably fail, which is where you come in. Just in case."

"What happened to the Upper Moons needing to find your requested item?" Douma gleefully asked. "Don't tell me you're giving up on that…?!"

"You're going to follow him. That man is a threat and as long as that accursed family lives on…"

"Aww… You seriously couldn't dump this on the others?"

Tanjiro growled as Douma put his hands up in surrender.

"I apologize! Anyways, what's so special about him? All he did was live, that's for sure, but what else? He'll die of that age limit curse, whatever you call it, at some point!" Douma shrugged.

"...This man lived past that point."

"...Huh."

"That's why, I'm not going to let him go," Tanjiro explained. "I'll go back and you keep an eye on him no matter what."

As he said that, he vanished into thin air, leaving Douma by himself in the lonely cold alleyway. He pouted as he put his hand on his hips.

"Rude. But it's interesting," The lone demon mused with a thin smile plastered on his face as always. "Why would he be so concerned over this? It's unlike him."

He shrugged as he exited the alleyway, humming an upbeat tune as he entered the lively streets of the city. He sees a rather beautiful woman buying some jewelry inside of a shop, catching his eye.

He morbidly smirks.

"Who cares! Let's see if I can get some food before they hunt him down… and before my meeting."

—|[0o0]|—

**Notes:** Once again, I apologize for such a delayed update. Thank you for reading and have a good day/night.


End file.
